


rs^ « » • 



*■" >■ 



• °^W.- J^'% 













r*^^ 

-.'b •X'. 



















,0 






V 



;> 



\' 



'•<^ 

^o^ 











-^^0^ 



,* .0 






^, - 






■So-" 






0' 






S , 1 A^ 






-^^ . 



. -^ 



.^^#:- .^'V -.^^ 












rf> * O « ' -ft" 









^^^ '%^^<^* ^'^ ^ 



^1 



.s^-.^. 










^ V 










V\^ 



^ A 



^v^% °^>^''^v;v ^^^^ ^^^ --^^i 



-.s'^"-. 






<^ 



lO-T- 







■"A^- 



'-f 









^0' 



.f 



0" 







'^ 










s * * r 



^ <^ 










.-iq. 



• ^^' 






^^-^^ 






/ 




COLONEL JOHN McCORKLEv 



1 



"^ 



THREE YEARS 

WITH oua:strelt. 

A TRUE STORY 


TOLD BY HIS SCOUT 

JOHN McCORKLE 

It 


WRITTEN BY O. S. BARTON 


ARMSTRONG HERALD PRINT 
ARMSTRONG, MO. 



INTRODUCTION. 



In all wars there have always been, and always 
will be a class of men designated as guerillas, but it 
can be said that the Missouri guerillas are more not- 
ed than those of any war in any country for ages. 
Their deeds of daring, their miraculous escapes, and 
the physical sufferings that they endured are almost 
beyond belief. Following the close of the Civil War, 
a number of highly-colored and melodramatic 
books, concerning the acts of the guerillas were pub- 
lished, in the majority of which the desire to be sen- 
sational defeated any attempts at truthfulness on 
the part of the authors. Another class of books, 
written from an intensely partisan standpoint, has 
given to the world a very imperfect conception of 
the motives and of the conduct of the Missouri guer- 
rillas. All of these books were published at a time 
when men were controlled by feelings of prejudice 
and passion and a number of the inhabitants of Mis- 
souri have, for years, endeavored to find someone 
who knew the facts and would truthfully relate 
them as they were. 

In the summer of 1865, a tall, gaunt, blue-eyed 
Confederate soldier landed from a steamboat at the 
town of Glasgow. Howard County, Missouri. He 
was dressed in a ragged, faded gray uniform and 
had all of his possessions about him. In the country 
above Glasgow he had some relatives, connections, 
both by blood and marriage, of some of the best fam- 
ilies in Missouri, and at the home of one of these rel- 






OCT 3 1914 



Three Years With QuantrelL 3 

atives this young man found employment as a farm 
laborer and it soon became known that he was John 
McCorkle, one of Quantrell's bravest and most 
trusted soldiers and one of his leading scouts. For 
some time the neighbors kept a close watch upon 
the newcomer and viewed him with something of 
suspicion, fearing that he might follow the alleged 
example of some of the other of Quantrell's men 
and become an outlaw, but they soon found him to 
be a steady, law-abiding citizen. In 1867, he was 
married to an estimable lady of Howard County, 
and soon became one of its leading farmers and one 
of its best and most trusted citizens, and today no 
man in the county stands higher in the estimation of 
his neighbors and acquaintances than does John 
McCorkle. For years a member of the Baptist 
church, he is known as a true Christian gentleman of 
strong character, as tender-hearted and sympathetic 
as a woman, but as stern and fearless as a lion and 
the word "fear" has no place in John McCorkle's vo- 
cabulary. And when the time comes, he will, as he 
has many times in the past, face Old Death with a 
smile on his face. 

Quite a number of his friends, knowing his history 
and his record with Quantrell, and knowing that 
from his lips would come naught but the truth, have 
been tr3nng to persuade him to write a brief story of 
his life with Quantrell. He has at last consented anc 
T have agreed to write the account for him. He has 
told me the facts and I have written them down; 
every word in the following pages is true: I have at- 
tempted to neither add to, or detract from any of 



4 Three Years With Quantrell. 

these facts, as related by him; there is no fiction in 
this account but a true story. JNIr. ]\IcCorkle has more 
than lived out his alloted time of three-score years 
and ten, but his memory is still good and while he 
may have forgotten a few of the facts after a lapse of 
half a century, still everything related by him actual- 
ly occurred. As he would relate his experiences and 
those of his comrades, I could see that all the sad and 
awful scenes of these three terrible years were crowd- 
ing fast upon his memory, and I could not help but 
notice the changing expression of his eyes, which are 
of that determined blue, while he was relating" these 
facts to me. i\t times, while describing some of the 
battles and some of the outrages committed against 
the helpless non-combatants of the South, during 
those four yeears of civil war in Missouri by unprin- 
cipled men who hid their misdeeds under the cloak 
of a Federal uniform and the Stars and Stripes, I 
could almost see the fire flash from those eyes and 
at other times, while telling of the death of some 
comrade, or the sufferings and hardships of defence- 
less old men and women of the South, those same 
eyes would fill with tears and the voice which had so 
often sent terror to the hearts of Kansas Jayhawkers 
and militiamen as it gave forth the rebel yell, would 
sink into a husky whisper. This story is not publish- 
ed in any spirit of malice or hatred, but in order that 
the truth may be known, that the world may know 
that Quantrell and his band were justified, in nearly 
all of their acts and that they were not altogether 
bad; that they were driven to desperation by brutal 
outrages committed against them and their friends, 



Three Years With Quantrell. 5 

and our only desire is that the world shall know the 
true facts in the case before it is too late, for we all 
are forced to realize the sad fact that ere long "taps" 
will sound for the last Confederate soldier on earth. 
All is forgiven, if not forgotten. 

O. S. Barton. 



THREE YEARS WITH QUANTRELL 



CHAPTER I. 

I was born December 12, 1838, two miles east of 
Savannah, in Andrew County, Missouri, and when I 
was about eight years of age, my father moved from 
Andrew County and located on a farm near West- 
port, in Jackson County, Missouri. I lived with my 
lather on this farm, attending country school in the 
winter time, until the year 1858, when I went to the 
State of Texas and stayed for six months. I then re- 
turned to my mother's farm, my father having died 
m 1 85 1. I remained on the farm with my mother un- 
til April, 1861, when I, with a number of other young 
men, enlisted in Company A of the Missouri State 
Guards,' near Raytown, in Jackson County. Captain 
Thurston was the first commander of this company. 
We would meet in Raytown and drill tvv^ce a week. 
In about a month, we were ordered to report at In- 
dependence and after remaining in Independence a 
short time, we were then ordered to Lock Creek and 
the next evening after we reached Lock Creek, we 
heard that Col. John P. Crittenden was coming from 
Kansas City with a regiment to capture us. We were 
then ordered to move out into the road and to form 
in platoons of eight. At this time, all of us, who were 
boys and raw recruits, became very much excited at 
the prospect of going into a battle and our orderly 
sergeant, Faulkner, became so excited that he got 



Three Years With Quantrell. 7 

his saber between his knees, fell down and began to 
yell that the enemy were right on us. We then learn- 
ed that two other companies of State Guards had 
come out from Independence, one called the Blues, 
under the command of Captain Whitehead and the 
other called the Grays, under the command of Cap- 
tain Bob Flournoy. By this time, we had persuaded 
our orderly sergeant that the enemy were not on us 
and were ordered to join the Blues and Grays who 
had formed in line of battle on the hill. Col. Hollo- 
way was in command of all the State Guards. Col. 
Crittenden had entered the mouth of a lane about a 
quarter of a mile off and Col. Holloway, our comman- 
der, rode down and met him. They shook hands and 
after a few moments' conversation. Col. Crittenden 
ordered his regiment to countermarch and they 
turned and started back toward Kansas City. As the 
Federal troops marched off. Captain Whitehead, 
who was in command of the Blues, lost his head and 
ordered his company to fire and they, being as much 
excited as their captain, fired into our ov/n men, 
wounding Col. Holloway and killing Charles Har- 
baugh. Colonel Holloway died in a few days at Inde- 
pendence from the wound. 

We then returned to Independence and the next 
day were ordered from there to Blue Mills, east of 
Independence. While we were at Blue Mills, Captain 
Thurston and Captain Duncan of Clay County had 
ridden across the Little Blue on a bridge at night 
and as they were returning across the bridge, some- 
one fired on them, striking Captain Duncan in the 
neck. He was taken from there to Doctor Twvman's 



8 Three Years With Quantrell. 

at Blue Alills, where he died in a few days. After 
Captain Duncan was shot, Captain Thurston became 
very much excited, ordered us to strike our arms, 
disband and go home. The arms we had consisted of 
Burnsides rifles and sabers which had been shipped 
to Kansas City by the Federal Government and 
which we had borrowed one night from a warehouse 
when there was no one around. After we had gone 
about two miles from where we disbanded, it dawn- 
ed on me that we might have further use for some of 
those arms and I suggested that we had better go 
back and get them and seven of us returned, s;ot our 
rifles and sabers and a supply of ammunition and 
hid them in a bluff on the Little Blue. We stayed 
around home until after the battle of Springfield and 
General Price had started back to Lexington. Our 
company was then ordered together again and se- 
curing our guns, we marched and joined General 
Price at Warrensburg and came with him to Lexing- 
ton and went into camp at the Fair Grounds. Before 
the Battle of Lexington, Captain Thurston resigned 
and the company elected j\linor Smith, a Mexican 
veteran, who is still living at this time. Our company 
was then placed in the Seventh Missouri Regiment 
of Cavalry, Raines' Division and known as Ras- 
sieuer's Regiment and Lieutenant-Colonel Martin 
was in command. This regiment was placed on the 
east side of the college where the Federals were for- 
tified, and our regiment was ordered to support the 
famous Bledsoe battery. For some unknown cause, 
Col. Rassieuer ordered our regiment to change posi- 
tions and to go down a ravine and come up through 



Three Years With QuantreU. g 

the woods between the college, where the Federals 
were fortified and Bledsoe's Battery. General Raines 
who was in command took us for Federal soldier^ 
and ordered Col. Bledsoe to open fire ob us with his 
battery, and he fired three shots at us with his can- 
non, the first shot wounding seven men. When this 
first shot was fired, we all dropped to the ground 
and Col. Martin, drawing his saber in a very excited 
manner, ordered us to get up and stand up like men, 
but when Bledsoe fired the second shot, Col. Martin 
was the first one to fall flat on his face and John 
Staulcupe, a private, ran up to the Colonel and kick- 
ed him and said, ''Damn you, don't be a coward; get 
up and stand up like a man." We then sent a runner 
to notify the battery of their mistake and they ceased 
firing on us. Our Colonel then gave the command to 
move fro mthere and we marched down the road un- 
der a hill where we were protected. While this battle, 
which lasted for three days, was in progress, one 
night, Henry Brookins, our First Lieutenant, pro- 
posed to me that we go up the hollow and climb a 
tree and look into the fort. We got permission from 
our Captain, but he told us positively not to fire a 
shot into the fort. Brookins and I went over and 
climbed up into two trees, where we could see into 
the fort. Then Brookins remarked, "John, we can't 
lose this chance; we must have a shot apiece,'' and he 
said ''Fire." We fired and then we immediately pro- 
ceeded to fall out of the trees, for a perfect hailstorm 
of bullets from the fort soon warned us that our ele- 
vated positions had not only been discovered, but 
were exceedinerlv dangerous. Of course, we never re- 



10 Three Years With Quant rell. 

ported to our Captain what was the cause of the men 
in the fort tr3'ing to top those trees. 

Immediately after the Battle of Lexington and 
General Mulligan had been paroled, Rassieur's Regi- 
ment was placed on guard around the fortifications, 
and strict orders were issued to permit no one to en- 
ter or go out of the fortifications without a pass. 
During this time, one of Col. Bledsoe's gunners, wdio 
was drinking very heavily, was inside the fortifica- 
tions, and putting on a Federal uniform, he started 
to pass out. He was halted by Jim Howell, a member 
of my company, who demanded his pass. The gunner 
replied to Howell in a very insulting manner that he 
had no pass and was going out anyway. Howell told 
him what the orders were and told him to go back. 
The gunner kept advancing and when he started to 
make a rush, Howell fired and killed him. Howell re- 
gretted this fact so much that he soon resigned from 
the army and never entered the service again. 

When General Price left Lexington, my company 
started South with him, but when we reached Bates 
County, Ike Brown and I were taken sick and left at 
the home of Barker Price, near Johnstown and 
Green Reagan was detailed to remain and take care 
of us. We were both suffering with what was then 
known as camp fever, and after remaining at Mr. 
Price's house for nine weeks, my younger brother, 
Jabez McCorkle, came down and took me back to 
my mother's home in Jackson County. While Brown 
and I were in bed at Price's, Jim Lane, the noted 
Kansas Redleg and murderer, came out to Mr. 
Price's and saw Brown and me and told us that he 



Three Years With Quantrell. iz 

would be back and kill us and would give us that 
night to prepare to die, but for some unknown reason 
he did not return and I suppose the reason he did not 
return is that he was too busy in burning the town of 
Osceola and robbing and murdering its citizens. Af- 
ter I had been at miy mother's for about a week, still 
being very weak from my fever, a Union man, who 
was a friend of our family, called on me one evening 
and told me that Jennison the partner and co-laborer 
in murdering and robbing of Jime Lane, had como 
within two miles of my mother's house and had mur- 
dered one of our neighbors, a very old and defense- 
less man, by the name of George House, and if Jen- 
nison found out that I was there he would come and 
murder me, although I was sick. This Union friend 
advised me to leave at once. That night my sister 
assisted me to carry my bed to a secluded spot in the 
woods where I stayed that night, and early the next 
morning, she accompanied me about eight miles to 
the home of our friend, John Prewitt, who hid me 
under a blufif on the banks of the Little Blue, where 
I remained for a week. His two daughters, Jane and 
Ellen, bringing me food and water. Remaining there 
for over a week, I returned to my mother's at night 
and there I found my brother, Jabez, who was at that 
time with Captain Upton Hayes, and who told me 
that Hayes was going south and the next morning I 
mounted a mule and went with him. We did not 
overtake Colonel Hayes and his command until we 
had reached Clinton in Henry County. I went with 
Colonel Hayes to Osceola and there I joined my old 
company. We stayed in camp at Osceola for about 



12 Three Years With Quantrell. 

a week, and having received the news that General 
Fremont was attempting to cut General Price off 
from his march from the South, we were ordered to 
Springfield on a forced march. 

CHAPTER II. 

On the second morning after leaving Osceola 
when I awoke I found that I was too sick to proceed 
with the army, who broke camp very early in the 
morning and was left to follow later. I stayed in the 
camp alone until about noon, when I realized the 
danger I was in and, weak as I was, I mounted and 
started to follow the armv. I manao-ed to ride until 
about dark when I stopped at a farmer's house and 
asked if I might stay all night. He told me that he 
was perfectly willing to keep me, but was afraid that 
the Federals would capture me and kill me as there 
were a great many Federal militia in that country. 
I told him that I would die from weakness if I at- 
tempted to go farther that night, and he consented 
that I might remain. The next morning, I left his 
house early in the morning and reached Springfield 
late the next night. It seemed that Fate was against 
my proceeding south with Price for after being in 
camp at Springfield for ten days, the measles broke 
out among the soldiers and I was detailed to take 
charge of seven of the boys, my brother, Jabez, being 
among the number, and take them to a house about 
three miles from Springfield and nurse them through 
their sickness. I was isolated from the rest of the 
army and in about a week, some of the boys having 



Three Years With Quantrell. ij 

grown worse, I saddled my horse with the intention 
of riding to Springfield to consult with a physician 
and to procure medicines and provisions for the sick 
men. I had ridden only a short distance when I met 
the physician who asked me where I was going, and 
informed me that there were no more Confederates 
m Springfield, that they had started South and Gen- 
eral Fremont was in possession of the town. The 
physician advised me to take a flag of truce and go to 
Springfield and surrender myself and my seven sick 
men. This I refused to do. He then asked me to 
accompany him to another house where there were 
some sick soldiers, where we were detained for about 
an hour and I left the physican there and started 
back to see my sick boys. Imagine my consternation 
when upon reaching the house I found it deserted, a 
squad of Federals having been there during my ab- 
sence and taken all the boys back to Springfield as 
prisoners. I then started south and riding a few 
miles I stopped at a house, hitched my horse to the 
stile-blocks and as I started through the yard to the 
front door, a lady came running out of the side-door 
and told me that there were some Federal soldiers in 
the house and unless I wanted to be captured I had 
better be moving away. Not waiting for any further 
orders, I wheeled and started on the run and, placing 
my hands upon the top plank of the fence, I put spurs 
to my horse and dashed away. I soon came to a little 
prairie and looking back, I saw a company of Feder- 
als coming after me. I immediately increased my 
speed and reached the woods ahead of them and 
turned abruptly south until I reached Wilson Creek 



14 Three Years With Quantrell. 

at a point where there was a water-mill. The mill was 
running, but no one was there. I noticed a house up 
on the hill west of the mill and saw three or four men 
standing in the yard, and as I rode up to them, I no- 
ticed that one of the men had an old Mississippi rifle 
in his hand and I, of course, took them to be some of 
Price's men. I asked them to direct me to the road 
over which Price's army had gone; one of them di- 
rected me, but as I started to ride through the gate, 
another man caught my horse by the bridle and the 
man with the ]\Iississippi rifle presented it at my 
breast, remarking that they would take care of me 
and take me back to Springfield. My pistol being 
empty, I immediately obeyed and dismounted. They 
took me into the house with them, where we had a 
good supper and, after supper one of them brought 
out a basket of apples and we all sat around until a 
late hour discussing the war and its probable end. I 
was then shown to my room, which was to be occu- 
pied with me by the owmer of the Mississippi rifle. I 
still had my pistol buckled around me, and as I went 
to undress, I threw it on the bed, remarking, "That 
pistol is empty : if it had been loaded, you might have 
had a little fun in taking me." The owner of the rifle 
broke into a hearty laugh and remarked, "Well, the 
rifle that I captured you with was empty too." the 
next morning, the owner of the place, who had been 
out somewhere all night, came home, accompanied 
by two other men, one of them had the longest and 
largest shot-gun I ever saw. It looked to me as if the 
barrels were at least ten feet long and I thought they 
had sent out in the night and procured it for the ex- 



Three Years With Quantrell. is 

press purpose of shooting me with. We then started 
back to Springfield and after we had crossed Wilson 
Creek near the mill, my captors left the main road, 
turning up a bridle path through a ravine. I could 
hardly ride for thinking that they were taking me 
into the woods to shoot me and I kept my eyes con- 
stantly on the gentleman with the big gun; but in a 
short time, we reached the road that Price had taken 
in his march south. About this time, we met the en- 
tire command of Federals going south, following 
Price, and I was taken along with them. They had 
with them sixteen other Confederates, including 
Colonel Freeman and forage master. After proceea- 
ing a short distance, we met a man in citizen's clothes, 
who told us that Price was about four miles south of 
us in camp. The regiment to which I was turned 
over was the Seventh Missouri Cavalry, and leaving 
the prisoners with a guard, moved forward after 
Price. In a short time, we heard four cannon shots, 
one of the guards remarking, ''J^st listen to that: 
they are giving old Price Hell now; they're going to 
eat him up." The cannonading at first sounded like 
'^i'^tant thunder, approaching nearer and nearer, and 
in less than an hour, the federal cavalry came into 
sight, rushing at break-neck speed through the biush 
and ordered guards and prisoners to mount and re- 
treat to Sprinfield on the double quick. Some of our 
boys then remarked to the guard, "You were mis- 
taken about who was catching hell, wasn't you?" 
While we were riding back toward Springfield, a 
Federal private rode out of line and coming up to us 
Confederate prisoners, drawing his revolver, began 



i6 Three Years With Quantrell. 

to flourish it and curse, and said, "You damned 
rebels I ought to shooe every one of you.'' Along the 
road in that section there were a great many aban- 
doned shafts of lead and zinc mines, and just about 
the time that this gallant and brave soldier had 
w^orked himself into a frenzy, he and his horse both 
suddenly disappeared through a brush pile, having 
gone into a hidden shaft, but, unfortunately, the 
man was not much hurt, although his horse was 
killed; and the next morning he was called before 
his colonel, who gave him a severe reprimand, took 
his side-arms away from him and ordered him to 
report to the infantry, telling him that may be ser- 
vice in infantry would teach him to treat prisoners 
with respect. We were then taken back to the head- 
quarters of the commander, where a description v/as 
taken of us, and our horses taken from us and we 
were started back to Springfield afoot. The seven- 
teen prisoners were placed under charge of a lieuten- 
ant with twenty-seven guards and we started back 
to walk the twenty-seven miles to Springfield. This 
lieutenant and his men treated us all with courtesy, 
the lieutenant going ahead and securing provisions 
for us, waiting on the roadside with a large basket 
well filled with provisions. Upon reaching Spring- 
field the prisoners were placed under guard in the 
third story of a brick building. The next morning, 
while sitting in this room with the other boys, I 
noticed a Union soldier who kept watching me very 
closely. Whenever I would turn my head, he would 
change his position, so as to see my face, his conduct 
made me nervous. T g^ot up and went to the window 



Three Years With Quantrell. i'] 

and, leaning out, was looking clown upon the street. 
He left the room, went down to the street and looked 
up into my face again. I returned to my seat in the 
room; he came back, walked up to me, put his hand 
on my shoulder and remarked, "Is not yoiu- name 
McCorkle?" I replied in the affirmative and he told 
me that his name was Frank Hoerheimer, that he 
had known me in Newton County, where I had been 
at his father's house and attended a number of 
dances with him. I was very anxious to go to the hos- 
pital to see how my brother and the other sick boys 
were and Frank went to Colonel Mills, who was in 
command there, and told the Colonel that if he would 
let me go to the hospital to see the sick boys, he 
would go with me and be responsible. We went over 
and my brother, Jabez and I went out in town and 
took dinner with Frank. When I first went into the 
hospital, one of the boys whom I had nursed, George 
Shue, by name, took me by the hand and said, "John, 
I am awful sick ; I feel very queer. Please tell the doc- 
tor to come." I went upstairs where the physician 
was and, after some little time, succeeded in finding 
him and took him down to see Shue, but when we 
reached George's cot, the poor fellow had gone to 
that land where there is no fighting. I then went to 
Frank Hoerheimer and Lieutenant Baker and made 
arrangements for his burial and his dust today sleeps 
in the graveyard at Springfield. 

Soon after we had reached Springfield, as prison- 
ers. Lieutenant Baker tried to persuade my brother 
and me to take the oath of allegiance and return 
home, and one nisrht he came to me and told me that 



J 8 Three Years With Quantrell. 

on the next day we would be removed to St. Louis 
and there placed in prison, and that we would have 
to travel eighty miles by foot to Rolla. After consult- 
ing with my brother and other friends, and having 
come to the conclusion that Fate was against my ev- 
er reaching Price's army, brother and I took the oath 
of allegiance, were given our paroles and started 
back to Jackson County, Missouri, afoot. Brother 
was still very weak and our progress was, of neces- 
sity, very slow. I carried all the baggage we had, 
which consisted of a cheap suit of clothes each, two 
blankets, one of them a fine Mexican overcoat blan- 
ket, which were packed in an old-fashioned carpet 
bag. While in prison in Springfield, brother and I 
both had acquired thousands of those little friends 
of the soldier, that sticketh closer than a brother, 
familiarly known as "gray-backs,'' and these friends 
of ours entertained us along our weary tramp and 
kept us from sleeping too soundly at night. After 
we had reached Cedar County, we saw a man and 
woman coming toward us in a wagon and upon their 
approach we recognized a friend of ours from Jack- 
son County, Missouri, by the name of William Fox, 
the lady with him being his wife. Fox was glad to 
see us and directed us to go on to his house and stop. 
After leaving Fox we met another old gentleman, 
whom We had known before in Jackson County, but 
who had fallen from grace and become a strong 
Union man and, with all of our talking, we could not 
persuade him that he had ever seen us or heard of 
us before, but he gave us some very fatherly advice, 
to the effect that if we had any preparations to make 



Three Years With Quantrell. ig 

for the future, we had better be making them, for no 
rebel could live in that county. After leaving our un- 
friendly friend, we met another marauder garbed in 
a Federal uniform, in the person of a young man 
with a large rifle. He presented the rifle and halted 
us, asking us where we were from and demanding 
our passports, which we showed him and of which I 
am satisfied he could not read a word. He then de- 
manded to search our baggage, which he did and 
then proceeded with us to Fox's house, where he 
again wanted to search our baggage, telling us that 
if we would give him the Mexican blanket, he would 
bother us no more. We decided to give it to him and 
in less than an hour he came back with another man 
who was armed with a shotgun and walking up to 
me the latter placed the muzzle of the gun to my 
breast and said, "Damn you ! surrender." I told him 
we had already surrendered and taken the oath. He 
lowered his gun and the two of them took all of our 
clothing and two dollars and a half, being all the 
money we had. When our friend Fox returned home, 
we related to him our experience with these two 
brave Union soldiers and he reported the fact to the 
Lieutenant who was in command of the home guards 
and he and Fox tried to recover our property for us, 
but only succeeded in recovering the Mexican blan- 
ket, which these two thieves dropped in their flight. 
The next morning Fox accompanied us about twelve 
miles, letting my brother ride his horse and he walk- 
ed with me. He told us to avoid the town of Humans- 
ville, in Polk County, because there was a company 
of militia there, who were a hard set Leaving this 



20 Three Years With Quantrell. 

town about two miles to our right, w^e walked on till 
sundown, and, seeing a man in his barn-lot, feeding 
his stock, I asked permission to stay all night, frank- 
ly telling him who we were and the feeble condition 
of my brother. He said that he had just returned 
from Bolivar, where he had taken an oath not to aid, 
abet or protect any Southern soldier, under penalty 
of death, and then added, "But boys, I am a South- 
ern man and love the South, and if you are willing to 
risk staying with me I will risk it, and if they come 
and find you here, they can do no more than kill us 
and we'll all die together, but we will try to take 
some of the blue-coated devils with us, as I have 
some guns hidden." We went into his house, his wife 
prepared us a nice supper, and when he suggested it 
was time to retire, I told him about our traveling 
companions, the graybacks, and that we did not 
want to infect his beds. He replied, ''That makes no 
difference ; I am a Southern man, and nothing I have 
IS too good for a Southern soldier. The beds can be 
cleaned." This statement made us feel better, of 
course. We left early the next morning, and having 
been fortunate enough to ride in a w^agon part of the 
way, we reached the place where the town of Osceola 
had once been, but there was no town there, as Gen- 
eral Jim Lane, of Kansas, had shortly before made it 
a visit and, following his universal practice, had left 
only ashes. Here I sold the Mexican blanket for five 
dollars. Just after we had crossed the Osage River, 
we met Tom Carter and a man by tTie name of 
Younger, a cousinn of Cole's, and went to Carter's 
house and stayed until the next day. From there we 



Three Years With Quant rell. 21 

went to Lone Jack, where we met John Little, Sam 
Montgomery and Dick Hopkins, who belonged to 
Colonel Ouantrell's command. After leaving Lone 
Jack, we went to my uncle, John Wigginton's, who 
lived fourteen miles south of Independence. We 
stayed with Uncle John mitil the next day, when 
my brother and I went on to our mother's home, 
where we received a tearful and hearty welcome. 
There we changed our clothes and parted company 
v/ith our traveling companions, the graybacks. In a 
few days, it was decided that my brother would stay 
with my mother and try to raise a crop and I went 
down to Uncle John Wigginton's and intended to 
farm there with him on shares. This was in the 
spring of 1862. 

CHAPTER III. 

I fully intended, when I started in to raise this 
crop with my uncle, to remain a quiet, law-abiding 
citizen. I had taken the oath of allegiance at Spring- 
field and had been given a passport, showing to the 
v/orld that I was a law-abiding American citizen and 
still entitled to protection under the law, but before 
the ink was hardly dry on that passport, I had been 
robbed of all I had, and that by men who claimed to 
be in the service of the United States government. I 
tried to forget these outrages and work on the farm, 
but before I had gotten my crop planted, a squad of 
Federal soldiers came by and compelled me twice a 
week to accompany them with a mail carrier twelve 
or fifteen miles and then to walk back, claiming that 



22 Three Years With Quantrell. 

prior to this time, some Southern men had fired on 
the mail carrier and I would be a protection to him. 
Not satisfied with taking me from my crop two or 
three days out of each week, in July, one Lieutenant 
Swann, who hailed from that loyal state of Kansas 
and who had been in command of the mail-carrier's 
bodyguard, notified me that I must appear at Inde- 
pendence before Captain Mayhew, the Provost-Mar- 
shal. I obeyed, and when I presented myself to Cap- 
tain Mayhew, he told me he knew of no charges 
against me, but to present myself in person to the 
commander, ColoneJ Btiell. I asked Colonel Buell 
what charges were preferred against me, and, in a 
very gruff, insulting manner, he told me he had 
heard of my conduct and for me to return to the Pro- 
vost-Marshal and give a bond of $5,000 for my good 
behavior. I then asked Colonel Buell what I had 
been doing and the only charge that he could remem- 
ber against me was that I had been singing some 
rebel songs. This offense, if offense it was, was true 
for on one occasion, in going from my uncle's to my 
mother's I was singing that song, two lines of which 
are: 

We'll hang John Brown on a sour apple tree 
And feed Jeff Davis on peaches and cream, 
and, while singing this song, I had passed Alfred 
Lee's house, where ten or twelve Federal soldiers 
were quartered. They ran out into the road, halted 
me and took me back to the house of my uncte, John 
Fristoe, where their captain was an unwelcome 
guest. They kept me there all night with them, hav- 
-mjg me to again sing about John Brown and other 




COLONEL WILLIAM QUANTRELL. 



Three Years With Quantrell. 2j 

rebel songs. The next morning, hearing them curs- 
ing, firing their pistols in the yard and saying "some 
damned bushwhacker had stolen one of their halt- 
ers," I started down where they were, when Dan 
Davidson, a stage driver, who was staying at my 
uncle's, told me not to go, that they would shoot me. 
1 told him I reckoned not, that I had been given pro- 
tection by the government, and he said that protec- 
tion, passports nor anything else from the Federal 
government made any difference to that bunch. I 
stayed upstairs until after they had gone and then 
v/ent back to my uncle's where I was living. One Sat- 
urday afternoon, my cousin, George Wigginton, and 
I went over to Big Cedar Church, where there was a 
singing school. While we were in the church, a com- 
pany of Federals rode up and examined every saddle, 
looking for gun marks. When we returned from the 
singing school, Mollie Wigginton told us that there 
had been a company of Federal soldiers there that 
evening, leaving an order for George and me to come 
to Independence the next Monday and to enlist in 
the State Militia, and that unless we did report, that 
they would come back and take Mollie and put her 
m prison and hold her until we did report. Now 
imagine, if you can, my feelings. I honestly and con- 
scientiously believed in the principles of the Confed- 
eracy, had started out to fight, and, if necessary, to 
give my life for those principles, but, on account of 
sickness and misfortune, had been captured, and, 
that I might save my brother and myself from lan- 
guishing and dying in a Federal dungeon, I had tak- 
en the oath of allegiance to the Federal government 



24 Three Years With Quantrell. 

with the full intention of abiding by it; I had return- 
ed to Jackson County, Missouri, where my mother 
and all my relatives were living, had gone to work, 
trying to be a peaceable, law-abiding citizen, but I 
had been constantly harrassed, annoyed and threat- 
ened, had been forced to leave my farm and my 
crops twice a week; I had been required to give a 
bond of Five Thousand dollars for merely singing a 
foolish song, and now, under the penalty of having 
a pure, innocent girl, my cousin, Mollie Wigginton, 
imprisoned in a Northern dungeon, to probably meet 
a fate far more terrible than death itself; after all this 
I was ordered to enlist in an alien army and to take 
up arms against the cause I loved and against my 
own people. I could not and I would not longer sub- 
mit, and I then resolved that if die I must, I would 
die fighting for my own people and for their cause, 
so, when George Wigginton asked me what I intend,- 
ed to do, I promptly told him that I was going to 
find Colonel OuantrelTs command and join it where- 
upon, he replied with equal promptness, ''Jo^^"^' I ^^^'^ 
going with you." 

CHAPTER IV. 

After the execution, in Virginia, of the famous 
abolitionist, John Brown, a number of men who had 
been with him in his attempt to make Kansas a free 
state, organized, at the town of Lawrence, a com- 
pany of free lances, who were familiarly called the 
Kansas Redlegs. The leaders of this band were Gen- 
eral Jim Lane and Colonel Jennison, names which 



Three Years With Quantrell. 25 

became watchwords of terror to the inhabitants of 
the border counties of Missouri. 

During the Pike's Peak excitement, a young man, 
by the name of William Clark Quantrell, left his 
home in Maryland, accompanied by his younger 
brother, a boy of eighteen years, and taking with 
them two negro men they started west for the Pike's 
Peak Country. When they reached Jackson County, 
Missouri, they supplied themselves with two wag- 
ons and two four-mule teams. After laying in a quan- 
tity of supplies, these two boys, with their two ne- 
groes acting as drivers, left Missouri ^nd started for 
Colorado. On the first night out, they camped ten 
or twelve miles south of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 
and, thinking that they were in a civilized country, 
were soon asleep. About midnight, thirty of the Kan- 
sas Redlegs rode up to the camp and, without any 
warning, fired a volley into the two sleeping boys, 
killing the younger brother and breaking the thigh 
of William Quantrell. These loyal citizens then ap- 
propriated to their own use the eight head of mules, 
the wagons and all provisions and, taking the two 
negroes with them, left the two boys, they supposed 
to b? dead on the plains of Kansas. When daylight 
came, William Quantrell crawled to the lifeless body 
of his brother and, after discovering that his young 
life had passed out, he crawled around, pulling up the 
grass, and covered up the dead body. Being unable 
to walk a step, he started to crawl across the prairie, 
hoping to find aid. He crawled until nearly noon, 
when an Indian found him, and having more heart 
and sympathy than the white men of Kansas, the In- 



26 Three Years With Quantrell. 

dian tenderly placed the wounded boy on his saddle 
and, getting behind him, took him to Fort Leaven- 
worth. He was taken to the hospital there and, in 
several months, partially recovered the use of his 
limb. His money and property all having been tak- 
en from him, he sought and secured employment 
ne arL eavenworth, Kansas, as a school teacher, 
where he taught during the coming wniter. In the 
spring, he went to California and again engaged in 
school teaching. All the time he was teaching, he 
was known as the Melancholy Teacher. Constantly 
brooding over the fate of his brother and the way he 
had been treated, when his term of school ended in 
California, he decided to return to Kansas, and, if 
possible, find the perpetrators of this outrage and to 
be revenged. He returned to Fort Leavenworth, 
and staying there only a few weeks, he went to Law- 
rence, Kansas, going under the name of Charles 
Hart. In a short time, he learned who the leaders 
of the Redlegs were, and becoming well acquainted 
with Jim Lane and Jennison, he joined their band 
and would accompany them on their horse stealing 
raids in the border counties of Kansas. He soon 
learned who the men were that had murdered his 
brother and robbed him, and on every raid that he 
would make with these men, from one to three of 
the men he had spotted would fail to return and 
would afterwards be found with a bullet hole in the 
forehead. His greatest desire was to kill the leader 
of this band of thirty, and with this end in view, he 
accompanied six of this band in a raid that they had 
planned into Jackson County, Missouri, to steal 



Three Years With Quantrell, 2; 

some negroes from a man by the name of Walker, 
who was a large slave holder. The plan these gen- 
tlemen worked was to go into Missouri, forcibly 
take slaves into Kansas and hide them and when the 
Missouri owners would offer rewards for them, they 
would return the slaves, secure the reward, take sev- 
eral horses and cattle with them and return to Kan- 
sas, and, in a few weeks, return, steal the negroes 
again and collect another reward. When they had 
reached Walker's home, Quantrell went into the 
house and told Walker's son, Mr. Walker being ab- 
sent from home, Vv^hat they had intended to do, and 
told him that when they had entered the house to 
take the negroes, that he, Quantrell, would shoot the 
leader of the Redlegs. Just as they entered the 
house, Mr. Walker, who had returned, stepped in. 
The leader demanded his money and four negroes. 
Quantrell drew his revolver, but, before he could 
fire, Mr. Walker, not understanding his object, 
struck the pistol and he missed the leader. The Kan- 
sans hurriedly left, two of them hiding on a creek 
back of Mr. Walker's house, where they were found 
the next day by Quantrell, Mr. Walker and his son. 
Quantrell commanded them to surrender and re- 
ceived a reply from one of them, "Take that, you 
damned traitor," accompanied by a shot which went 
wild and w^as answered by shots from Quantrell and 
Walker and there were two less Kansas Redlegs. 
Quantrell remained in Missouri, assisting the citi- 
zens in defending their property and in catching 
these horse, cattle and negro thieves, and occasional- 
ly paying a debt he owed the Redlegs who had killed 



28 Three Years With QuantrelL 

his brother. In 1861, after the war had started, 
Quantrell had six men with him, who were assisting 
in a search for these Jayhawkers, and thought he was 
assisting the Federal troops in preventing these out- 
rages. On two different occasions, while Quantrell 
was out with his men, he was fired upon by a compa- 
ny of Federal soldiers and got away from them with- 
out returning the fire. He then went into Independ- 
ence and told the authorities that he was trying to 
assist them in putting down this lawlessness and 
that he was also getting tired of the Federal soldiers 
firing on him and his men and that he would not run 
from them any more. In a short time, about ten or 
twelve Federal soldiers fired onto him and his men 
and they very promptly returned the fire, killing five 
L'i the soldiers and chasing the remainder into Inde- 
pendence. From that time on, the Federal soldiers 
and the Kansas Jayhawkers devoted a great deal of 
time and energy in attempting to catch Quantrell 
and his men. 

On the night after we had received the order to 
to come to Independence and enlist, George Wiggin- 
lon and I mounted our horses and started to find 
Quantrell. eW first went to the home of Dave Tally, 
Quantrell. We went first to the home of Dave Tally, 
who directed us to Cole Younger's camp in the 
brother, Jabez McCorkle, Dick Tally, Tom Tally, 
Jim Morris and Tom Rice. When we had told Cole 
Younger our object, he asked us what arms we could 
get and I secured a rifle and eight cartridges and 
George a double-barreled shot-gun. We remained in 
camp in the woods until the next Saturday when we 



Three Years With Quantrell. 2g 

received word to join Quantrell Sunday night at 
Blue Springs. On Sunday morning the eight of us 
met at Uncle John Wigginton's where they had pre- 
pared for us an elegant dinner and, immediately af- 
ter dinner, we bid them good-bye and left. When 
we arrived at Blue Springs, we found that Quantrell, 
who had been joined by Colonel Upton Hayes, Colo- 
nel Hughes and Colonel Thompson, had left word 
for us to meet them at the bridge crossing the Little 
Blue near Independence. When Vv^e reached the 
bridge, Quantrell selected all the men who had revol- 
vers and Cole Younger, Tom Tally and Jim Morris 
were among this number. When we prepared to 
leave, Quantrell had sixty men, and Colonel Hughes 
assumed command of the remainder, amounting to 
about 350, raw recruits, old soldiers and boys. It 
was agreed between the two officers that Quantrell 
was to dash through Independence, direct to the 
camp of the Federals on the Kansas City road and 
Colonel Hughes was to follow him through, not stop- 
ping in the town because the Federals were fortified 
in the court-house and a bank building, where Colo- 
nel Buell had his headquarters. Just at day-break on 
the tenth day of August, 1862, Colonel Quantrell 
rode out before his sixty men and, saying "Come on, 
boys,'' dashed through the town of Independence, 
followed by Colonel Hughes and his command. 
When we reached the court-house square, Colonel 
Hughes ordered us to dismount and he sprang over 
the fence into the court-house yard and immediately 
the Federals opened fire on us from the court-house 
and bank building-. Colonel Husfhes and Colonel 



JO Three Years With Quantrell. 

Thompson were both wounded at the first volley. 
Colonel Hayes took command then and ordered us 
to go at double quick to the camp of the Federals. As 
we came in sight of the camp, the Federals were run- 
ning, trying to get behind some rock fences, most of 
them, having failed to stop to put on their clothes, 
but many of them carrying their guns. As soon as 
we reached the Federal camp, I ran into a tent and 
found a box of ammunition. I pitched it out and told 
the boys to help themselves and filled my cartridge 
box. About this time, Colonel Hayes noticed some of 
the Federal soldiers behind the rock fence on the 
Kansas City road and, calling me to him, said "John, 
you are the only man with a long-range rifle. Make 
those fellows take their heads down." I fired, but the 
first shot fell short. I fired the second shot and they 
all fell off the fence and didn't stick their heads up 
any more. Most of the Federal troops had gotten be- 
hind the rock fence on a hill towards the town of In- 
dependence and, north of this rock fence, there was 
a hedge fence, an orchard and a sweet potato patch. 
Colonel Hayes called for volunteers to go behind the 
hedge and rout them from behind the rock fence. 
One of our bravest men, Barney Chambers, a Pres- 
byterian minister, volunteered to lead us and thirty 
of us accompanied him and got 1)ehind the hedge 
fence. Chambers gave the order to fire and the en- 
emy rciurned our fire v/ith a perfect hailstorm of 
minie '^lalls that literallv mowed the hedofe fence 
from over our heads. Poor Chambers was killed. Ije- 
ing the only man struck. The Federals continued 
thvir n.-c, when vre decided to retreat. Tn mv has^c to 



Three Years With Quantrell. 31 

get away, I sUumbled and fell between two sweel po- 
tato rows and my brother Jabez hid behind an 
apple tree. There were at least twenty-five balls 
struck the tree he was behind and the balls threw the 
dust and dirt over me until I was in danger of being 
buried alive. When they had ceased firing at us, 
Brother asked me if I was wounded, and, telling him 
no, I started lor a tree, the Federals opening fire on 
us again. We remained behind these trees a few 
moments, exchanging shots with the Federals when 
we suddenly discovered that he and I were the on^ ' 
ones on our side in sight, and we immediatt^iy re- 
treated in great haste over the brow of the hill. While 
we were running away, my cousin, George Wiggiii- 
ton, received a wound in the thigh and Rice was 
wounded in the instep. Colonel Hayes told me that 
he was afraid that we would have to retreat and for 
me to make some provisions to take the two hoys a- 
wav with us for he was satisfied that if the Federals 
captured them they would be killed. I went down to 
r.n old mill and secured an old delivery wagon and a 
horse, but when I went to harness the horse, i found 
there were no lines. The miller's wife came to the 
door and told me to take her clothes line and use it 
for lines. I then started to assist the boys into the 
v/agon when she ran out of the house and told me 
that I could not put those boys into that wagon, and. 
running back into the house, she returned with a 
feather bed and throwing it into the wagon, she re 
marked "Now, put 'em in." During this time, Quan- 
trell, who had been pursuing the Federals toward 
Kansas Citv returned and, dashing up into the town, 



j2 Three Years With QaantrelL 

began to fire at the windows of the court house and 
bank building. Discovering that he was unable to dis- 
lodge the Federals, called for volunteers to rush in 
and set fire to the bank building. Cole Younger and 
my brother volunteered, and, rushing to a nearby 
carpenter shop, they gathered an armful of shavings 
each, Cole going to the front door, and my brother 
to rhe rear door, and, piling the shavings against 
the doors, set fire to them. The men, in the n-.ean- 
tinje, kept a constant fire at the windows. As soon as 
the smoke began to rise, the Federals ran ou!. a white 
flcig and ^ai'l ihey would surrender if they would be 
treated as i)risoners of war, afterwards sa3nng that 
tliey would have surrendered before, but knowing it 
was Ouantrell and his men, they were afraid. They 
were assured that they would be treated as prison- 
ers of war and were drawn up in line on the court- 
house square and disarmed and were paroled and let 
go free. 

When we first entered Independence, there v^/ere 
confined in the county jail two Southern men, Frank 
liarbaugh and Bill Bassham, who had been sen- 
tenced by the Federal officers to be shot the next 
day. Neither of these men had ever taken any part in 
the war, Harbaugh being a farmer and Bassham in 
the employ of the Government, carrying the over- 
land mail. As soon as w^e had entered the town, 
George Todd took ten men with him and went to the 
jail and, securing sledge hammers from a black- 
smith shop, broke the doors in and released these 
two men. As soon as they were free, Bassham began 
calling for a gun and was told to go to the provost- 



r^- "^ Three Years With QuantrelL 33 

marshal's office, which was filled with guns that had 
been taken from the Southern citizens. He rushed to 
die office, secured him a double-barrelled shot gun, 
and immediately began to try to get even with the 
men that had put him in jail, but Harbaugh didn't 
seem to desire any gun, but started for home on a 
dead run and I have never seen nor heard of him 
since, but suppose he has stopped running ere this. 
Among the men captured by us was a neighbor boy 
of mine, Anderson Cowgill, whom I had known for 
years and after he was paroled, I went up to him and 
offered to speak to him, but he refused, saying, "I 
will get even with you yet," and how well he kept his 
word will appear later in these pages. 

We then destroyed all of the Federal camps and, 
taking all their guns, ammunition and supplies that 
we could carry, we left Independence and went into 
camp on Morgan Rucker's farm near Blue Springs, 
where we remained until the morning of the eleventh 
of August, where Ouantrell reorganized his company 
consisting of 120 men and we were all sworn into the 
Confederate service by Colonel Thompson, who was 
at that time still suffering from the wound he had re- 
<:eived at Independence. The next day word was 
brought that Colonel Hoyt with his Kansas Redlegs 
was on the east side of East Blue, burning the 
houses of Southern people. Colonel Thompson as- 
sumed command and we started in pursuit of Hoyt, 
aiming to intercept him at Hickory Grove, but he 
had passed before we had reached there and was so 
far ahead that we were unable to overtake him, and 
he returned to the State of Kansas. Here we separ- 



24 Three Years With QuantrelL 

ated from Thompson and Hayes, they g'oin^ to Lone 
Jack, where, on the next day, the hardest fought bat- 
tle, considering the number on each side, was fought. 
After leaving Hayes and Thompsonn, word was 
brought to Quantrell that Hoyt was returnning to 
burn the town of Independence, He immediately 
divided into two groups of sixty men each, he taking 
one group to Independence and the other groups, un- 
der the command of William Haller, went over on 
the Sni. When we reached Independence, Jim Stev- 
enson and I were detailed as pickets on the road 
leading from Kansas City to Independence. We 
stayed there all that night, the orderly sergeant hav- 
ing forgotten us, and the next afternoon, two pickets 
came out from Haller's groups and informed us that 
Quantrell had left Independence during* the previous 
night. We camped there until the next day and Col- 
onel Quantrell having returned, we left for Lone 
Jack, where we found the commands of Colonel 
Hayes, Colonel Vard Cockrell, Colonel Coffey and 
Colonel Thompson, they having succeeded in finally 
whipping the Federals after a hard fight. We learned 
that among the Federals captured there was a cer- 
tain Lieutenant, Levi Copeland, from the state of 
Kansas, who had been making himself exceedingly 
obnoxious to the Southern people of Jackson county, 
who had a short time before gone to the house of a 
very old man, who had two sons in our company, 
and having demanded of the father the surrender of 
his two boys and being told that he knew nothing of 
their whereabouts, Copeland and his men took him 
to a tree within a few feet of his front porch and 




COLE YOUNGER. 



Pgjp" Three Years With Quantrell. SS 

there, in the presence of his wife and daughters, 
hanged him, remarking as he rode off. ''This is what 
I do to all damned rebel sympathizers." When Quan- 
trell learned that Copeland was a prisoner under 
charge of Colonel Cofifey, he wrote a note, demand- 
mg that Copeland be turned over to him. Cofifey re- 
plied that he could not do it. Quantrell immediately 
wrote him another note, telling him fully what Cope- 
land had done and also telling him that unless Cope- 
land was turned over to him by a certain hour, that 
he would take his company and charge Coffey's 
command and take Copeland by force, and just be- 
fore the time was up, Quantrell gave us the command 
to saddle and mount, and, just at that time, two men 
appeared and turned Copeland over to us. Quantrell 
questioned him, then called for the two sons of the 
old man he hung, remarking, ''Boys, he's yours." 
The two boys led him a short distance into the woods 
and the reports of two pistols soon told the end of 
Levi Copeland. 

We remained in camp at Lone Jack several days 
and going down near Bone Hill, justs as we were 
getting ready to eat breakfast, our pickets informed 
us that there was a regiment of militia from Lexing- 
ton rapidly approaching. We immediately mounted 
and rode about ten miles up the Sni and started to 
cross the prairie to Blue Springs and w^hen in about 
a mile of Blue Springs, we met a man who told us 
that there was another regiment of Federals coming 
from Blue Springs after us. We turned to the South, 
crossed the Sni and, as we started up the bottom, we 
ran almost into Jennison's Kansas regiment, engag- 



S6 Three Years With QuantrelL 

ed in their usual pastime of burning houses. Quan- 
trell gave the command to counter-march. We then 
re-crossed the Sni and started across the six-mile 
prairie to Big Creek. As we entered the prairie, Cole 
Younger was detaild to fall back with twenty men 
and act as rear guard to Ouantreirs force. When 
we had gotten about half way across the prairie 
Younger sent to Ouantrell for reinforcements, as 
the Federals were pressing us hard. Quantrell sent 
word Lo cross over to a nearby ridge, where he 
would form a battle line and give battle to the Fed- 
erals. We dashed for the ridge and just as we got 
there Quantrell came up, with the Federals in close 
pursuit. They did not see us until they were less 
than thirty yards distant when, yelling and firing 
our guns, we charged them. They lost nine men, 
while we lost only one. 

After this skirmish we marched to Big Creek, 
crossed it and went about three miles up the creek. 
The next morning we started across the prairie to 
the head of the Little Blue. When we had gone a- 
lout five miles down the Little Blue we discovered 
that a large force of Federals were on our trail, and 
that they outnumbered us ten to one. We then cross- 
ed the prairie, riding swiftly to avoid the pursuing 
Federals. Suddenly we came upon another force of 
encamped in a pasture. We dashed by them before 
they could make an attack. Finally we came to a 
bridge across the Blue, and we destroyed the bridge 
and put an end to further pursuit. After traveling 
for several days we came in the neighborhood of 
Lone Jack. There we encountered a regiment of 



Three Years With Quantrell. j; 

Federals. We struck back towards the Blue and the 
next day decidd to disband as Federal troops were 
scattered over the whole country. 

Ike Bassham and I started out together. We came 
to a house where a man by the name of Cummins 
lived. We went into the house to see if we could get 
some breakfast. 

While we were waiting for breakfast, we heard the 
front gate open and close and, looking out of the 
window, we saw the Federal lieutenant and an or- 
derly sergeant walking toward the house. We sprang 
to the door with a revolver in each hand, when the 
lieutenant, who was in front, threw up his hands and 
said, "If you won't shoot, I won't," to which Bass- 
ham replied, "Then get out of this yard, and damned 
quick." They wheeled and started to the gate, the 
orderly sergeant going through the gate, but the 
lieutenant in his hurry missed it, and bolted right 
through the hedge fence, leaving his coat tail and a 
good deal of his blue uniform hanging on the thorns. 
Just then a negro came around the house and told us 
that there was a company of Federals camped about 
a quarter of a mile from the house and were simply 
separated, hunting their breakfast. Bassham and T 
immediately decided that we were not hungry, and 
bidding Mr. Cunningham a hasty good morning and 
apologizing for leaving before breakfast, we rushed 
out, interrupted our horses in the midst of their 
breakfast, sprung into our saddles and rushed into 
the woods. After riding about five miles, we stopped 
at the Widow Dillingham's and our appetites having 
returned, we ate a hearty breakfast. While we were 



S8 Three Years With QuantreU. 

waiting to go South, it was reported to Colonel 
QuantreU that two men who had been with him, Car- 
lyle and Black, had been taking horses from farmers 
and telling that QuantreU had ordered them to take 
them, and that they would then take the horses to 
Lexington and sell them for a high price. Six other 
men with myself were sent out to look for them. We 
captured them and brought them to QuantreU, to- 
gether with eight horses that they had stolen. Quan- 
treU made them return the horses to their owners 
and told them that if they were guilty of this again, 
Jie would have them shot. They stayed in camp for a 
week or two, when the citizens again came to Colonel 
QuantreU and asked him what he wanted with so 
many horses and told him that these men were still 
stealing horses. He then took ten of us with him and 
found Carlyle at his brother-in-law's, a man by the 
name of Thompson. We knocked on the door and, 
being admitted into Thompson's bedroom, we found 
his bed empty, but Will Hulse finally discovered him 
on a trundle bed beneath the other bed. QuantreU 
told Hulse to throw back the top mattress and he 
would just shoot him through the straw tick. Carlyle 
immediately jumped out, turning the bed over. The 
colonel then compelled him to tell where the horses 
he had been stealing were and he took us to their hid- 
ing place in the dense woods where we discovered 
sixteen head of horses that he had stolen. Carlyle 
was placed on a horse and a rope tied around his 
neck, and the horse was led from under him. The 
next day the horses were returned to their owners. 
Shortly after this, sixteen of us, under the com- 



Three Years With Quantrell. jg 

mand of Colonel Quantrell stopped at the house of a 
man by the name of Tate, four miles south of West- 
port, where we stopped, intending to stay all night. 
This house was two stories in front, with a one-story 
e\\ in the rear. It was built of logs, but afterwards 
weatherboarded. A picket was placed in the road. 
Being very tired we all retired early and were soon 
asleep, Colonel Quantrell and Cole Younger occupy- 
ing the bed and the remainder of us sleeping on the 
floor. About midnight it began to rain very hard and 
it was exceedingly dark. About one o'clock, our pick- 
et dashed by the house, firing his pistol and calling 
to us to get out as we were surrounded by Federals 
and we soon found that about four hundred had sur- 
rounded the house. Not knowing that the house was 
built of logs, the Federals- began to fire into the 
walls, calling on us to surrender. One of our boys 
called to them to cease firing until Mr. Tate and his 
family could get out of danger, which they did. 
When Tate and his family had gotten out of the 
house, an officer came to the door and tried to open 
it, calling on us to surrender. Quantrell, who was 
sitting on the bed, said, "Boys, get away from that 
door a minute." He then fired his pistol through the 
door and the Federal officer fell, mortally wounded. 
Another officer ran up and we heard him say, "Boys, 
he's dead. I'll go to the door and make them surren- 
der," and as soon as he rattled the door, Quantrell 
fired again and he fell, mortally wounded. At this 
time, one of our men began to beg us to surrender 
and said he wanted to surrender. Quantrell called to 
the Federals to cease firing a few minutes, that he 



40 Three Years With Quantrell. 

had a "damned coward" in there that he wanted to 
give to them. They ceased firing and we put our 
coward out of the window. 

All this time, we could hear the officers on the 
outside telling their men to shoot low, that we were 
lying on the floor, but their bullets had no effect on 
the heavy weatherboarding and logs. We then dis- 
covered that they had set fire to the house and that 
they had withdrawn a short distance from the house, 
waiting for us to emerge. Quantrell went upstairs, 
and stepping out of a window onto the roof of the ell 
part of the house, fired at the commander, with a 
double-barrelled shot gun, killing him instantly. 
While he was upstairs some of the boys found a door 
leading out into the back yard and told Quantrell of 
it. Quantrell said, "As they have set fire to the house 
this door will be our only means of safety; some of 
us are bound to be killed. Now I will go first, you 
boys follow me; stoop and jump as far as you can, 
shooting with both hands.'' The Federals were 
drawn on either side of the door. Quantrell opened 
the door, shooting the Federal who was standing 
near it and we all sprang after him, shooting with 
both hands. The Federals opened fire on us from 
both sides, killing their own men. We ran into the 
garden, through a gooseberry patch and through 
the garden fence, literally tearing the fence down 
and then out into a stalk field and then into the tim- 
ber. The only wounds any of us had were made by 
the thorns of the gooseberry bushes. Cole Younger 
suffered more from the gooseberry bushes than any 
of us, having run out of the house without his boots 



Three Years With QuantreU, 41 

and we teased him a good deal about the Federals 
running him out of his boots. We learned from the 
neighbors afterwards that there were over forty Fed- 
erals killed, but most of them were killed by their 
own fire when they were attempting to cross-fire us 
as they escaped. 

One day, shortly after this, Cole Younger and I 
decided to go out and see if we could locate the Fed- 
erals. We passed Sam Caldwell's house and Mrs. 
Caldwell and her sister came out and stood on the 
stile-blocks and talked to us a while. We left them 
and started down the road. We had gone about a 
quarter of a mile, we turned into a lane, and, to 
our utter surprise, were face to face with about eigh- 
ty Federals. They commanded us to halt, which we 
answered with pistol shots and, wheeling our horses, 
we started back in the direction of Caldwell's house, 
followed by the Federals, shooting at us, constantly, 
and, to our consternation, we saw the two women 
standing on the stile blocks watching us. Cole Youn- 
ger yelled to them to lie down, which they did be- 
hind the blocks and, as we dashed by them, with the 
Federals in close pursuit, still keeping up a constant 
fire at us, they called to us, "Run, boys, run, and lay 
low on your horses." By this time, we had gone over 
the brow of the hill and turned into the woods and 
the Federals gave up the chase. The only damage 
they did to us was to shoot part of Cole Younger's 
stirrup off. 



42 Three Years With QuantrelL 

CHAPTER VL 

Late in the fall of 1862, 140 of us, consisting of a 
few new men and Ouantrell's original company, met 
at Lone Jack and started south. When we had reach- 
ed a point on the road in Cass County, between Har^ 
risonville and Dayton, we discovered a provision 
train of fourteen wagons, guarded by a company of 
Federal soldiers. Colonel Ouantrell commanded us 
to charge them and, after firing only a few shots, 
they scattered in different directions and here was 
where I captured my first Federal soldier. I pur- 
sued him for about a quarter of a mile and when he 
discovered that I was gaining on him, he stopped his 
horse, threw up his hands and asked me not to shoot 
him. I told him to hand me his rifle, which he did, 
and taking the cap off of it, I handed it back to him 
and demanded his revolver. When he handed me 
his belt, there was no revovler in the scabbard. He 
had dropped it in his flight. I then told him to re- 
mount his horse and, as we were returning to the 
command, we found his revolver lying in the grass. 
I kept his horse and pistol and gave the rifle to a raw 
recruit .nd we afterwards paroled him. We killed 
eight or ten of them and after taking all the provi- 
sions that we could carry, we set fire to the wagons 
and proceeded on our journey south. 

About nine o'clock that night, a Federal compa- 
ny came up in our rear and fired on our guard. We 
immediately formed in line and, after firing a volley 
or two at them, we then fell back. Then some of our 
raw recruits became scattered and some of them nev- 



Three Years With Quantrell. 4j 

iv did return. We rode all night that night at a live- 
ly pace and crossed the Osage River about day-break 
at the old town of Papinsville. When we had gotten 
out on the prairie we looked back and saw a regiment 
of Feedral soildiers following us about five miles in 
our rear. We rode all day until about lo o'clock that 
night, when we stopped and prepared something to 
eat and fed our horses. We started on the march 
again next morning at 4 o'clock and went into camp 
near Lamar in Barton County. There we learned 
that there was a Captain Lewis with about forty men 
camped near us and that he was going South the 
next day. Quantrell sent him word to come over and 
join us and we would go South together. When 
Lewis came he suggested that we would go to Lamar 
that night and capture a Federal company stationed 
there. Before we got to the town the Federals who 
had heard we were coming, had gotten into the court- 
house and we, only having side-arms, could not dis- 
lodge them. We had one man, Jim Donohue, killed 
there. Will Halloran and myself crawled up behind 
an old frame building and fired into the court-house 
windows with our revolvers. The Federals poured a 
volley into the old shop and the flying splinters 
knocked us both down, one striking me just above 
the right eye and one striking Halloran in the neck. 
We were not in Lamar over thirty minutes. During 
this fight the negro, John Noland, who had been with 
us since Captain Childs was wounded at Sibley, gave 
more commands than anyone, calling for general 
Shelby to come up on the south side and General 
Marmaduke to com.e on the west, and ordering the 



44 Three Years With Quantrell, 

artillery to advance and blow the court-house up, but 
his talk failed to scare the Federals into surrender- 
ing. As we left Lamar, we picked up the body of 
poor Jim Donohue and, tying it on his horse, we 
buried him at the mouth of a lane about two miles 
south of town, building a rail pen around his grave. 
We then porceeded south into Newton County. 
There Captain Lewis separated from us, going to the 
left and we going to the right down into the Indian 
Territory. We went on into Fort Smith, Arkansas, 
where we stayed for about ten days, this country 
then being in the hands of the Confederates. While 
at Fort Smith, I sold the black mare that I had rid- 
den from Jackson County for $200, Confederate 
money, keeping the horse that I had captured in Cass 
County. Leaving Fort Smith, we crossed the Arkan- 
sas River at Van Buren, and at Dipper Springs we 
joined General Marmaduke and General Shelby and 
our company was attached to Elliott's battalion of 
cavalry. After remaining in camp about a week the 
entire command went from there to Cane Hill. While 
at Cane Hill, Jim Lane and Montgomery, with a 
large force, got past our pickets and the first intima- 
tion we had of their presence was when just at sun-up 
they fired a cannon right in our camp. Soon learing 
that they had too much force for us, we retreated 
across the Boston Mountain. When we had reached 
the foot of the mountain, Elliott's battallion was put 
to the right to hold the Federals in check until the 
baggage train could get up the mountain. 

Colonel Quantrell had left us and had turned the 
command over to Captain Bill Gregg. Quantrell 



' Three Years With Quant rell. 4$ 

had gone to Richmond, Virginia, and secured his 
commission as a colonel and command of a batal- 
lion of Missourians. I was detailed on the watch. I 
saw the enemy coming up the creek and, at once, re- 
ported to Gregg and Colonel Elliott. Returning to 
my post, I saw that they were advancing very rapid- 
ly and immediately returned to Elliott and Gregg 
and told them if we stayed there a few minutes lon- 
ger we would be cut off and would have to cut a hole 
through the enemy to get out. Colonel Elliott, as 
soon as he saw our perilous position, ordered a re- 
treat, and, as we crossed the creek, about fifty yards 
ahead of them, the enemy poured a heavy volley of 
grape, canister and minie balls at us, and nothing 
but the poor shooting of the Yankees saved us all 
from being killed, but only two of Elliott's men were 
slightly wounded. We kept us a constant firing as 
we went up the mountains. During this running 
fight, one of our company, Dick Turpin, became sep- 
arated from us, and, riding up to where General Shel- 
by was, the general asked him what command he 
belonged to. He replied "Ouantrell's." Shelby re- 
plied, **I thought those boys always stayed in their 
places." To which Turpin replied, "I can go any place 
you can : come on." The general started to follow, 
when his horse was killed under him. Turpin turned 
in his saddle and saw Shelby getting up and said, 
"General, what in the hell are you stopping there 
for? Why don't you come on?'' Going up the moun- 
tain, General Shelby had three horses killed under 
him. After getting over the mountain, we started 
down Cole Creek, the baggage train being ahead of 



46 Three Years With QuantreU. 

us. The Federals closed up and made a saber charge 
on our rear guard. Captain Gregg then told me to go 
down the creek and find a place to form, as he want- 
ed to check that charge. I started and took Dave 
Pool with me and, just past the spur of the mountain, 
I found a place about large enough for forty men to 
form on. Leaving Poole there, I rode back and noti- 
fied Gregg. The boys came on down on the double 
quick, about half of them forming and the remainder 
forming in the rear. About that time, Captain John 
Jarrett, who had formerly been with QuantreU, but 
who was then in command of a company of cavalry 
under Shelby, came up and asked me what we were 
going to do. I told him we were going to check that 
charge and to get in the rear. Before we had time 
really to re-form the Federals came to within about 
thirty yards of us and Captain Gregg gave the com- 
mand to charge. We rushed forward, yelling and 
shooting and, at the first volley, we un-horsed thirty- 
seven of them, among them being a Major Hubbard. 
The federals immediately turned and went back up 
the mountain at a more rapid pace than they had 
come down, we following them about a quarter of a 
mile, wounding and killing a good many more. 
When one of the men came up to where Captain 
Hubbard was lying wounded, he dismounted and 
took his belt, revolver and sword and a fine, new 
overcoat that Hubbard was wearing and told him he 
was going to kill him. Just then General Shelby 
came along and asked what he was going to do with 
that man, and being told he was going to kill him, 
Shelby very sternly, said, "No, you are not. Return 




WILLIAM GREGG. 



Thiee Years With Quantrell. 47 

that man his belt, sword, revolver and overcoat," 
which was very promptly done. In about an hour 
from this time, the Federals came down with a flag 
of truce and took up their dead and wounded. We 
then went into camp near Van Buren and remained 
in camp about four days, when we learned that Gen- 
eral Sterling Price was coming up from the South 
with his infantry, intending to give battle to the Fed- 
erals. We then went back to Dripping Springs and 
waited for General Price. Among the first company 
to arive were a number of my former friends, whom 
I had not seen since 1861 and among them my friend 
Henry Brookins. When we first joined Price at War- 
rensburg in 1861, Brookins and I had agreed not to 
have our hair trimmed nor to shave until the war 
was over. I had kept my promise and when I sav/ 
Brookins, he had his hair nicely trimmed and clean- 
ly shaved except a long mustache, and, with my long 
hair which v/as then below my shoulders and with 
my flowing beard, I walked up to him, caught him 
by the mustache and said, "Henry, you lied to me. 
Where is that hair?" He said, ''They would not let 
us wear long hair in the South ; if we would not have 
it trimmed they v/ould throw us down and cut it or! 
for us. 

The next morning the entire command was order- 
ed north. Tom Harris, Rice and I were detailed to 
remain and cook up all the provisions we had in our 
company. We did the cooking, loading the provis- 
ions into the wagon, and overtook the company 
about 2 o'clock in the morning and the boys soon de- 
voured what v/e had cooked. We then proceeded 



48 Three Years With Quantrell. 

north, the infantry on the right and the cavalry on 
the left. Just as the cavalry, Elliott's battallion be- 
ing in the advance, turned the spur of the mountain, 
near Prairie Grove, we discovered the advance guard 
of the enemy getting breakfast. There were a thous- 
and men in this advance guard and just at sunrise, 
Colonel Elliott ordered us to form in line and charge. 
We captured about four hundred of them and pur- 
isued the remainder to a creek. The weather being 
very cold the creek banks were frozen and we cap- 
tured 200 more at the creek and took possession of 
all their wagons and provisions. We only killed ten 
or fifteen of them, but wounded several. They never 
fired a shot at us, being too busy trying to get away. 
Our battalion was then moved forward and took up 
a position on a high ridge to the extreme left, from 
which we could see the infantry of both armies grad- 
ually drawing near each other and about 9 o'clock in 
the morning both sides opened fire and the battle 
continued all day until dark when we were ordered 
to fall back. AYe retreated South to Dripping- 
Springs and stayed there a day or two. Then we 
were ordered South and so we marhed dowcn into 
Arkansas. While we were at A'an Buren, Arkansas, 
one of the boys came up to me and said, "John, lets 
go back to Missouri." ''All right," I replied. So six 
of us started back, including George Wigginton 
and Ike Bassham. We put on Federal uniforms as 
the country through which we were to go was full 
of Federals. On the way back we learned that there 
was a regiment of Federals at Bowers* Mill, so we 
decided to pass to the left of Bowers' Mill in order 



Three Years With Quantrell. 4g 

to avoid embarrassing questions that the Federals 
there might ask us. We had to cross a creek, where 
we saw several militiamen stationed. 

Just before we got to the creek we saw one of the 
militiamen get on a horse and start in a fast gallop 
towards Bowers' Mill and we knew that he had gone 
to report us. We crossed the river and just to the 
right of the road, we saw a company of militia com- 
ing across a little field. They called to me and I an- 
swered them when Ike Bassham put spurs to his 
horse and started to run. I caught his bridle and told 
him to hold on. The militia did not attempt to follow 
us so we rode into the woods, and when we reached 
the edge of the prairie, we saw three different sets of 
Federal scouts. We stayed in the woods until dark 
when we rode up to a house. A man came to the door 
and we asked him if we could get something to eat 
and feed our horses. He, supposing us to be Federals 
invited us in and, while we were at the supper table, 
he told us that he belonged to the militia and that his 
company was in camp about a mile from the house, 
and that after supper he was going back and would 
be glad to have us go with him and spend the night 
with the boys. We, of course, told him we would 
be only too glad to do so. After supper, we all start- 
ed toward the Federal camp, the militiaman and P 
riding together in front. After getting out a short 
distance from the house, I suddenly drew my revol- 
ver and throwing it to his face, told him to give up 
his gun, which he handed to one of the other boys. I 
then said to him, "We are Confederate soldiers; we 
want vou to show us the way to Sim's Point. If you 



so Three Years With Quantrell. 

attempt to mislead us, we'll shoot you, and if you 
take us into a Federal camp, I'll kill you before they 
can get us. Now show us the way." He said he did 
not know the way, but I told him he did, and he had 
to have us at Sims' Point by daylight, or I would 
shoot him. We rode all night and, just at daylight^ 
we reached Sims' Point and I was well acquainted 
with a man who lived there. He was in a corn-crib 
when we rode up and I called to him to come outside. 
He said, "Well, what in the devil are you doing" 
here?" I said, "It is none of your business what I am 
doing here- you can come out here, I want to find 
out something." When he had gotten outside, he saw 
the militiaman and said, "What in the hell are you 
doing with that damned Home Guard with you?' I 
told him to never mind the Home Guard; I was tak- 
ing care of him, "He'll not bother you any." "But he- 
may bother me after a while." But I told him that 
this Home Guard would never bother him any more. 
T then asked him if he knew where there were any 
Federal soldiers and he said that there were none 
any nearer than ten miles. We got our breakfast with 
him and taking feed for our horses with us and also 
taking the Home Guard along for good company, we 
went into the woods and stayed until dark and then 
rode all night long, covering about forty-five miles 
of road, we reached Calvin's Branch between Pleas- 
ant Hill and Harrisonville just about sun-up. Having- 
secured our breakfast, we went down into the woods 
and stayed until night, where we paroled our pris- 
oner, and going north across Big Creek, we went to 
the home of my uncle, John Wigginton, arriving 



Three Years With QuantreU. $i 

there in January, 1863, this being the same place 
where I had attempted to raise a crop the preceding 
summer and where on August 11, 1862, I joined 
Quantrell. 

CHAPTER VII. 

When we reached the house about 12 o'clock at 
night, George Wigginton knocked on the door. His 
mother called, "Who is there?" and when he replied, 
"George," she sprang out of the bed, opened the door 
and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him and 
crying, and to my great delight and surprise, I found 
my mother there. Oh! How glad these two old moth- 
ers were to see their boys whom they did not know 
were living or dead. My uncle John said to us, "Boys, 
I am afraid you have done a bad job, coming back 
here before spring; I doubt very much if you get 
through the winter. This country is full of Federals. 
There is a big force at Independence under Colonel 
Pennock and a regiment at Pleasant Hill and also a 
regiment at Harrisonville." The next afternoon we 
went in search of Cole Younger and George Todd 
and the next day we found them in camp in the 
woods about seven miles south of Independence on 
Howard's Branch, and with him were my brother, 
Jabez, Tom Tally, George Tally, Joe Hardin, Doc 
Hale and Jim Morris and in a few days Ike Bassham 
and three others joined us. We then dug a pit or cave 
in the side of the hill and covered it with logs, old 
boards and brush, with a fireplace in the back with a 
chimnev made of sticks and mud. This was a warm 



S2 Three Years With Quantrell. 

place to stay, but we cooked only at night for fear the 
Federals would locate us by the smoke from our 
camp. Cole Younger and his men had a similar den 
about twenty feet from ours. One night while we 
were here, George Wigginton and I decided we 
would ride over and see our mothers, who were both 
at his father's. As we came to the edge of the prairie, 
noticing several fires, we stopped our horses and 
counted seventeen houses belonging to Southern 
men burning, and among them was the house of 
Wigginton's father. Imagine our feelings — both of 
our old mothers were then being thrown out of shel- 
ter in the dead of winter. We sat on our horses and 
watched them burn. Wigginton, who was always a 
very quiet man, sat with his eyes fixed on his father's 
home and I said to him, "George, what do you think 
now?" He turned to me and said, "Well John, I 
think, 'Damn it.' '' After we had been in camp about 
ten days, John McDowell came into our camp. He 
had gone south with us, being a member of Captain 
Jarrett's company and, as soon as he returned to 
Jackson County, had gone direct to Independence 
and surrendered to Colonel Pennock and been pa- 
roled. As soon as he came into camp, I suspicioned 
him, for the reason that Pennock had never been 
known to parole a Southern man before. I told Cole 
Younger he was a traitor and we ought to get rid of 
him but Younger would not believe it. In a few days 
Captain George Todd came into our camp and I 
spoke to him about McDowell and he agreed with 
me, but Younger would not consent to our doing 
anything to him. A heavy snow had fallen and a 



Three Years With Quantrell. SS 

crust had formed, making the traveling exceedingly 
bad. McDowell told Younger that he wanted to go 
over to John Garrison's to see his wife who was 
there. I objected and said to Younger, in the pres- 
ence of McoDwell; "Cole, do not let him go. He is a 
traitor and will get us into trouble, and if I was in 
command of this squad, he would not be John Mc- 
Dowell much longer, for I would either hang him or 
shoot him. You know and John McDowell knows 
that old Pennock never released a rebel soldier be- 
fore and has made arrangements with him to betray 
us, so either shoot or hang the traitor." Younger re- 
plied, "John, you are too hard on him; he's all right. 
He went South with Jarrett." I told him that might 
be true but that I knew he was a traitor and a spy 
and was a liar about his wife and just as soon as he 
gets out of our sight, he will run his horse to Inde- 
pendence and tell Pennock where we are. But Cole 
let him go. After McDowell had been gone a while, 
we were trying to catch some hogs that were run- 
ning in the woods and had left our pistols inn our 
den, when one of the boys yelled out, "The Federals 
are coming."! looked up and saw about sixty men 
coming afoot and only about fifty yards from us. 
Some of the boys said, "They are not Federals, but 
George Todd's men." I said, "What the devil is 
George Todd doing coming afoot; break for your 
weapons boys." The Federals then called to us, 
"Don't be alarmed, we are friends." Then Cole 
Younger fired at them and they fired on us. I sprang 
into the den, jerked my revolver from a rafter and 
told the bovs to sfct out. As T rushed out of the den, I 



54 Three Years With QuantreU. 

attempted to fire on them, but my pistol snapped. 
We all scattered. Ike aBssham was killed just as he 
came out of the door. Joe Hardin fell dead within 
about ten feet of the door and Doc Hale and George 
Tally were killed about a hundred yards from the 
camp. I started on a run through the brush, the Fed- 
erals firing at me all of the time. I ran over a log and 
fell down, but got up running, the bullets making 
snow fly all around me. I crossed a little branch and 
someone called to me and said "John, wait." I turned 
and it was George Wigginton. Just back of George 
was a negro militiaman, i~unning after him; George 
wheeled and killed the negro, and said ''John, let's 
turn and fight them." I told him that we had better 
save our loads until the last and get away if we 
could. Just then another man called me and, as he 
had on a Federal cap, I started to shoot him, when 
he called again and I recognized Jim Morris. He also 
wanted to stop and fight them. I asked him where 
his pistols were and he said he had lost them. I then 
advised him that the best thing that he could do was 
to get in front of us and do some of his best running. 
We came to a little clearing and, as we started a- 
cross, several Federals fired at us, and I noticed 
blood on the snow, and Morris looked at his hand, 
around which we tied a handkerchief to keep the 
blood from leaving a trail in the snow. We kept on 
until we came to the creek, where there were a good 
many cattle paths. We got into one of these paths 
and followed it for a while and then we went into 
the brush and on through the woods to Carroll John- 
son's house, and there, we secured two horses from 



Three Years With Quantrell. 55 

Johnson, promising him to return them as soon as 
we could find some of our own, and George Wiggin- 
ton and Morris rode one horse and we started to find 
Captain Todd's camp. When we reached the house 
of John Prewitt, we were nearly frozen, and so 
hoarse we could hardly speak above a whisper. We 
stopped at his house a short while and then went on 
in search of George Todd's camp. 

When the Federals fired on us at our den, my 
])rother Jabez received a scalp wound and, while it 
Vv'as not very serious, it bled very freely. He and 
Cole Younger ran together, and he had on a pair of 
heavy cavalry boots. From the loss of blood and 
tt3nng to run with heavy boots on, he became very 
tired and told Cole that he could not stand it much 
longer. He sat down on the snow and while ten or 
fifteen Federals were shooting at them, Cole pulled 
my brother's boots off. He then jumped up and ran 
through the snow and ice in his stocking feet. In 
this little skirmish, they killed four of our boys and 
we killed seven white men and one negro for them. 
^^'e afterwards learned that this man, John Mc- 
Eride, had made an agreement with Colonel Pen- 
nock that he was to receive $1,000 for Cole Younger^ 
v^500 each for myself and my brother and $100 each 
for either of the other boys, the money to be paid 
for our delivery to him or his men, either dead or 
alive, and they well knew that there was very little 
chance of any of us being delivered alive. 

After leaving Mr. Prewitt's, Wigginton, Morris 
and I went across the Blue, where we found Craid 
Wells and John Blythes in a dugout on the side of 



jS6 Three Years With Quantrell. 

a bank. We stayed there ten days. Wells' sisters and 
mother came at night to where we were and brought 
us food from the house. After the snow had melted, 
Wigginton and I started back to learn how many of 
the boys had been killed and wounded. On this trip 
I received word from Travis Morgan that he had a 
fine four year old saddle stallion in a barn about a 
mile from Independence, and a good saddle and 
bridle in the loft, and I was willing to run the risk 
of being captured, I could have him. Accompanied 
by Will Hulse, I secured the horse, saddle and bridle 
and came back to his father's house, secured a late 
supper and Will's sister. Miss Sallie, presented me 
with a quart bottle of blackberry cordial. In a few 
days George Wigginton captured him a horse and 
vve returned Johnson's horses to him. At this time, 
George Todd had ten men under his command and 
Cole Younger sixteen in his command. We contin- 
ued to sleep in the woods at night and eat with our 
friends, and William Hopkins invited us all to meet 
at his house on February 14, 1863, and to enjoy a big 
turkey dinner. On the morning of the thirteenth of 
February, Captain Wagner came out of Indepen- 
dence with sixty-four men from the Fifth Missouri 
State Militia, looking for us, and went into camp in 
Mr. Hines' yard, whose son Jim was with us. That 
night twelve of us went to Hines' with the intention 
of firing on the militia, but before reaching there I 
suggested to Cole Younger that if we did, they 
would probably kill Mr. Hines and burn his house. 
We abandoned the trip and went back into the 
woods. On that morning, Captain John Jarrett and 



Three Years With Quantrell. $j 

John Roth had returned from the South and joined 
us. When the morning of the 14th of February came 
Cole Younger suggested that if we expected to en- 
joy our turkey dinner we had better first get rid of 
Captain Wagner and his militia. The house of Wil- 
liam Hopkins was on a high bluff and his father, 
Dick Hopkins, lived on the opposite side of the bot- 
tom on a high bluff. We agreed that Cole Younger 
should go with his men on the bluff near Will Hop- 
kins' house at a point where the roads made a sharp 
turn around the bluff* and John Barrett and John 
Roth should ride out where the militia could see 
them and when the militia attempted to capture 
them, make a rush to this place of ambush. When 
we reached the point near Will Hopkins' house, we 
met Captain Todd and his ten men and he took com- 
mand and ordered us to form a line back from the 
road on the top of the hill. In a short time, we saw 
Barrett and Roth coming at full speed with the 
militia in full pursuit. When they had gotten into 
the cut, Barrett and Roth rushed around the turn 
and joined us. Captain Wagner ordered his com- 
pany in the cut between the bluff" and the high rail 
fence and he and his first lieutenant rode around in 
sight of us. Captain Todd, who was standing in 
front of our lines, fired at him. Wagner raised his 
hand with his revolver in it and shouted, ''Don't fire, 
men, we are Federal soldiers and belong to the 
artillery; don't you see the brass on my saddle?" 
Todd replied, "To hell with your artillery; kill them 
boys, kill them." I was standing near Captain Todd 
at the time with a double barrelled shot-gun, with 



^8 Three Years With QuantreU. 

each barrel loaded with fifteen pistol balls. I fired 
at Captain Wagner. Several of the balls struck his 
horse and one cut his little finger off, causing him 
to drop his revolver. Todd then yelled "Charge." 
They became bunched up between the fence and the 
bluff and we were right on them before they could 
get their horses to running, and emptying saddles at 
every jump the horses made, they soon left the road 
and ran into the woods and into a V-shaped place, 
where a drainage ditch entered the Little Blue. 
Some of them forced their horses into the Little 
Blue and into the ditch. The water in the Blue was 
very deep and their horses were soon swimming. I 
rode up to the bank of the Blue and, emptying the 
other barrel of my shotgun at them, dropped the 
grn and emptied my revolvers. In this company of 
militia, there was a man by the name of Jim Lane, 
who before leaving Independence had said, "Before 
I return I will either kill a damned bushwhacker or 
one of their Southern sympathizers." When he 
reached the Blue, he turned and forced his horse 
into the ditch and was trying to force him up the 
opposite bank. Boone Shull saw him and yelled, 
"Boys, there goes the fellow that was going to kill 
"a damned bushwhacker,' " and fired. Lane fell dead 
and Shull jumped off his own horse remarking, 
"That's too fine a horse to let get away," and ran 
into the ditch and captured the horse. Captain Todd 
then gave command to reload quick and tried to 
head them at Blue Springs. 

While we were reloading an old hypocrite, who 
tinder the guise of a Northern Methodist minister 



Three Years With Quant r ell. S9 

had been going over that country, robbing South- 
ern people with the Redlegs and militia, rode up on 
a mule. He would go to the home of Southern peo- 
ple and hold family prayers with them and then 
charge them for divine service and, if they had no 
money, he would by force take their bedding, silver- 
ware or anything else of value, and at the time, he 
had a roll of blankets and comforts and two silk 
dresses and some silverware that he had forced Mrs. 
Stanley, the wife of Judge Stanley, to give him that 
morning. A short time before this, this old hypo- 
crite, with a gang of militia, had gone to the house 
of Judge Stanley and demanded money from him. 
Upon the failure of the Judge to comply with their 
demands,. the.y had burned his feet, pulled his finger- 
natLs out artd' struck: him; over the hfiad with their 
revolvers until he had lost his mind, and when this 
sanctimonious old hypocrite came riding up to us, 
Jim Little, who knew him too well, rode up to him 
and asked him what he wanted. The preacher, think- 
ing we were Federal soldiers, told Jim that he had 
been up and stayed all night at Judge Stanley's, and, 
hearing the firing, had ridden down to see about it. 
Jim said to him, "You are the old devil we have been 
looking for. You have been going around this coun- 
try praying with Southern people and in every one 
of your pretended prayers you would offer an insult 
to the South, and demanding pay, and when you 
were refused, you would rol) defenceless women and 
children by taking what little property they had and 
you now have blankets and dresses belonging to 
Judge Stanley's wife, and now we've got you." The 



6o Three Years With Quantrell. 

preacher said, "I have a right to have pay for my 
divine services and ought to be paid for praying for 
sinners.'' Jim remarked, ''Well, you'd better be pray- 
ing for yourself, and get at it damned quick." The 
preacher asked him if he would kill a minister of the 
gospel. Jim said, "No, but I am going to kill a damn- 
ed thief and old hypocrite," and shot him and his 
mule. We afterwards came back and got what he had 
and took them back and delivered them to Mrs. Stan- 
ley. 

We then wheeled our horses and tried to intercept 
the remaining militia at Blue Springs. When we 
reached the road leading into Blue Springs, they had 
just passed and would have succeeded in slipping up 
on them if it had not been for Jim Little, who began 
to yell. The militia looked back and began to whip 
their horses with their rifles and, in a few minutes, 
we were close enough to open fire on them, follow- 
ing them through the town of Blue Springs. About 
three quarters of a mile from the town of Blue 
Springs, there was a very bad mud hole in the road 
and there had been a number of poles laid across it, 
and, when the militia reached this place, their horses 
going in a run, quite a number of their horses stum- 
bled and fell, piling men and horses in one promis- 
cuous heap and ten of the militia ceased to bother us 
from that time on. We continued to follow them un- 
til they had reached the bridge across the Little Blue 
when Captain Wagner rode on to the bridge ahead 
of them and, drawing his revolver, commanded them 
to halt and face us, saying that he would shoot the 
first man who attempted to ride by him, to which 



Three Years With Quant relL 6i 

command one of his men replied, ''There's a damned 
sight more danger behind us than in front of us." 
We fired at them again and wheeled our horses, rid- 
mg back. We afterwards learned that out of the six- 
ty,four men that had left Independence with Cap- 
tain Wagner, only seven ever returned, and two of 
that number were badly wounded. Just before we 
reached the mud hole, one of the militiamen fell o^^' 
his horse in a fence corner. Mart Belt, who had been 
following him and shooting at him, rode up to him 
look his pistols away from him and, leading the 
militiaman's horse, came galloping up to the rest of 
us and said, "Boys, I got that fellow all right." Some 
of the boys, who knew that Mart was a poor pistol 
shot, laughed at him and told him he couldn't hit a 
1)arn. Mart said, ''Wait until we go back, and I'll 
show you where I shot him in the side of the head." 
When we got back to the place where the man had 
fallen, there was no man there, and an old gentle- 
man, who lived nearby, came out into his yard and 
Mart asked him what had become of that dead man. 
The old man replied, "Dead man, Hell ! If you'd have 
seen him running through that field after you boys 
rode off, you wouldn't have taken him for a corpse." 
We rode back to Will Hopkins' and arrived there at 
two o'clock in the afternoon, and did ample justice 
to a fine turkey dinner. 

This had been a good day's work; twenty-seven 
of us had routed a company of sixty-four, killed 
fifty-seven of them and none of our men were 
wounded, and at this time, there were seven thous- 
and Federal soldiers in Jackson county and a large 



62 Three Years With Quantrell 

Federal force in Lexington, Harrisonville and Pleas 
ant Hill, and our little bunch of twenty-seven men, 
who were the only armed Confederates in that part 
of the country, caused all these soldiers to stay 
there and kept them from following General Price, 
After dinner at Will Hopkins', we separated 
again and remained in hiding for about ten days^ 
when Cole Younger, John Jarrett, Captain Scott^ 
Jim Noland and I went down into Lafayette county 
and stopped at the house of my uncle, William 
Fristoe. The next morning we started out on the 
road to intercept the stage, running from Lexington 
to Warrensburg. We had a two-fold object in want- 
ing to intercept this stage; one was that the Federal 
officers made frequent trips in this stage and we 
were anAisou to see them, and, if possible, to secure 
a newspaper, and, when the stage come in sight, we 
halted it and we found Colonel King, son of Ex-Gov- 
trnor King and another Federal officer, who was a 
provost-marshal from Lexington. We afterwards 
jearned that when we first halted them, the provost- 
marshal took the star from his hat on which there 
was a number "5", for he well knew that No. 5 meant 
death, because that was the number of old Pennock's 
regiment. When we had made them get out of the 
stage, Colonel King asked what we intended to with 
them, and Captain Scott told him, "Kill you, of 
course," to which King remarked. "That is a strange 
way to carry on civil war." Captain Scott walked up 
to him and, putting his hand on his shoulder, said, 
"Colonel, that is the fault of your side; whenever 
you fight us, you always carry a black flag; our Col- 



Three Years With Quantrell. 63 

<;nel, Quantrell, has made overtures to you to ex- 
change prisoners and has always been refused, and 
you troops are instructed to take none of us prison- 
ers, but to either hang or shoot us as soon as captur- 
ed, and, in addition to that, you murder all of the old 
men, who sympathize with the South and burn and 
destroy all their property, and we are only retalia- 
ting." About that time, John Jarrett walked up and. 
Colonel King, seeing a Masonic pin on Jarrett, let 
him know he was a Mason. Jarrett then said, ''Hold 
on, boys," and, turning to Colonel King, said 
"What Captain Scott has told you is true- we only 
kill the men who kill us and our friends ; we do not 
burn houses and we do not rob Union citizens, for if 
we did, our Colonel would have us shot. Now, if you 
will promise me to do all in your power to have this 
burning stopped, we will release you." Colonel King- 
made him the promise and they were released, and I 
must say to his credit that, for two or three months, 
the burning ceased. We stayed with our friends un- 
til April, when Colonel Quantrell returned from the 
South with the remainder of our company. 

On his way back from the South, Colonel Quan- 
trell came by way of Spring River to have a little in- 
terview v/ith that hartless old murderer, Colonel 
Obediah Smith, who had done so much murdering 
and burning in that part of the state. When Quan- 
trell rode up to Smith's house, he found him in the 
garden, having a rifle with him and, as Quantrell 
and his men were all wearing blue overcoats, Smith 
came to the fence. Quantrell shook hands with him 
and told him that that was a very fine rifle he had 



64 Three Years With Quantrell, 

and that he would like to see it. Smith handed him 
the rifle, remarking, "Yes, and I've turned many a 
damed rebel over with it." Quantrell pointed the gun 
at him and pulled the trigger, but the gun snapped. 
Smith took the hint, ran around his house and jump- 
ed into a stable lot, and when he was about to reach 
the fence on the opposite side of the lot, Bill Mg- 
Guire shot at him and Obadiah Smith never turned 
over another rebel. Colonel Quantrell told me that 
in his trip from the South, he had no trouble passing 
the Federal pickets, as he passed himself off as Col- 
onel Clark, of a Colorado regiment. We waited 
around in hiding, waiting for the leaves to get thick 
on the trees and in the brush. One day Cole Younger 
rode over to see his Grandmother Fristoe and hitch- 
ed his mare in the orchard. While he was talking to 
his grandmother, a negro woman came and told him 
the Federals were ocming. Cole beat a hasty retreat 
but had to leave his mare, which the Federals capt- 
ured. Quantrell then ordered my brother, Jabez Mc- 
Corkle, and me to hunt the boys up and get them to- 
gether. I had a squad with me under a bluff on Cedar 
Creek, and one morning before I dressed Jabez came 
up with a squad and, leaving his men, came to where 
I was and was standing on a rock, when in some way 
he dropped a Springfield rifle which he had in his 
hand, discharging it, the ball striking him in the 
right leg just below the knee and, passing upward, 
shattered the knee joint. We placed him on a blanket 
and carried him under a bluff and waited on him for 
several days, but fearing the Federals might discov- 
er him, we moved him over on the Nelson Creek and 




FRANK JAxMES. 



Three Years With Quantrell 6$ 

made him a bed under a bluff. His wife and sister 
stayed with him where he lingered thirteen days and 
died, and, when the end came, his mother-in-law, 
Mrs. Harris, his wife, and sister and I were with him. 
In this sad manner ended the life of my only brother, 
a brave, true man and soldier. It seems strange that, 
having passed through so many dangerous places, 
he had to die at last from a wound inflicted by his 
own gun. Just after he died, Frank James, Captain 
Scott and Tom Harris came to where we were. This 
was the first time I had ever seen Frank James, and 
when he rode up to where my dead brother was ly- 
ing, he remarked, "We heard he was here wounded 
and had come to stay with him to keep the Federals 
from finding and killing him." That night, we took 
his body to his mother-in-law's house, leaving only 
the women to watch with him and the men all return- 
ed to the woods, waiting for the coffin to be made. 
While his corpse was lying in Harris' house, a com- 
pany of Federal troops came in, looked at the corpse 
and left. The next day, he was buried in a country 
grave-yard near the house, where a few years before, 
he had been married. Soon after the death of broth- 
er, one of our bravest men, Jim Vaughan, was in Wy- 
andotte, Kansas, and, while being shaved in a barber 
shop, the Federals rushed in on him and captured 
him, taking him into Kansas City, where they placed 
him in prison. General Buell, after learning who he 
was, ordered him to be hung within ten days. In a 
few days after his capture, we captured three Union 
soldiers, a lieutenant, an orderly sergeant and a pri- 
vate. Quantrell told a Union citizen to go to Kansas 



66 Three Years With Quantrell 

City and to see Colonel Buell and to tell him that if 
he would exchange Vaughan for the three Federals 
we had, that he would send the three Union soldiers 
to Kansas City unharmed, but if he carried out his 
intention to hang Vaughan, then the three Federals 
would be either hung or shot. The next day, this citi- 
zen returned to Kansas City and, in the presence of 
our three prisoners, reported that the Federal com- 
mander had refused to exchange A^aughan and was 
going to hang him. The lieutenant left the other 
prisoners and, walking up to Quantrell, said, ''Col- 
onel, I know you intend to execute me and my two 
companions and, after knowing you have tried to 
save us, I do not blame you, but I have a proposition 
to make to you : if you will let me, I w411 go to Kan- 
sas City and see the authorities and, I believe, that 
being a lieutenant in the regular arm}^, I may be able 
to prevail upon them to accept your proposition, and 
I now promise you, upon my honor, that I will re- 
turn, whatever may be their decision." Quantrell 
looked at him a moment and said, "I will trust you; 
go." On the afternoon of the third da}^ the lieuten- 
ant rode into our camp and, walking straight up to 
our colonel, said, "I have failed; I gave you my word, 
and I have returned to be executed, and am prepared 
to die. I do not blame you, Colonel, and I do not be- 
lieve that if you had fifty of our best men, they 
would exchange Vaughan for all of them, so, Col- 
onel, we await your orders." Quantrell looked at 
him a moment, making no reply, turning on his heel, 
called Cole Younger, Frank James and myself to 
him, and taking us to one side, said, "Boys, this man 



^r Three Years With Quantrell 67 

is loo honorable and brave to die; he has done all in 
his power to save Jim Vaughan, and I believe that 
either one of the others would have done the same 
thing, and they ought not to suffer for the brutality 
and meanness of others, and I'll be darned if any of 
them shall die by my hand." He then sent for the 
three prisoners and said to them, *'Boy's, your lieu- 
tenant is too honorable and brave a man to die and 
I believe you are all that way. There is not one man 
m ten thousand who would have acted as your lieu- 
tenant has. Now, if you'll give me your word of hon- 
or, and I know your lieutenant is a man of honor, 
that you will never again take up arms against the 
South, I am going to let you go. My men and I may 
be outlaws, but we are honorable and have some 
heart left and have never yet murdered a brave 
man." The three Federal soldiers, with tears in their 
eyes, thanked Colonel Quantrell, mounted their 
horses and left, and we afterwards learned that they 
went into Kansas City, reported these facts to the 
commander and resigned from the service, going 
back home, but nevertheless, the next morning, Jim 
Vaughan was hung. As they led him out to the scaf- 
fold, with his head erect, he said, "You may kill me, 
but you'll never conquer me, and taking my life to- 
day will cost you a hundred lives and this debt my 
friends will pay in a short time." And how prophetic 
his last words were will soon be seen. 

A short time after the execution of Vaughan, 
Quantrell took about half of his company and went 
down on the Sni, leaving the remainder of us under 



68 Three Years With Quantreli 

the command of Captain George Todd, and, on the 
seventeenth day of June, 1863, we discovered a com- 
pany of Federals crossing the prairie in the direction 
of Westport. We turned into the woods and, follow- 
ing Brush Creek, entered the town of Westport on 
the south. On the southeast side of this town there 
was a lane, which had a high rock fence on either 
side. When we reached this lane, we formed in pla- 
toons of eight and waited for them. They came rid- 
ing very leisurely over the hill, the captain in front, 
with his leg thrown over his horse's neck. He asked 
who we were when Captain Todd yelled, "Charge, 
kill 'em, boys, kill 'em,'' which we immediately pro- 
ceeded to do. We charged them in the lane, yelling 
and shooting as we rode. They were thrown into a 
perfect stampede and rushed out on to the open pra- 
irie. While we were running them, I saw two of them 
leave their horses and I tried to get some rocks off 
the fence so my horse could get over. Bill McGuire 
rode up to me and said, "My horse will take th-^ 
fence,'' so putting spurs to his horse, he went over 
the fence and followed them, returning with their 
guns and pistols. Boone Sholl, who was riding the 
horse that he had taken from Jim Lane near Blue 
Springs, lost control of his horse, which ran away 
with him and through the line of Federals, who shot 
him in the back, the ball passing through his body 
and breaking the buckle on his belt. We found that 
we had killed thirty-three of them. Will McGuire 
rode up to a dead Federal officer who had assisted in 
the hanging of Jim Vaughan, and wrote upon a slip 
of paper, "Remember the dying words of Jim 



Three Years With Quantrell 6g 

Vaughan," and placed it in the teeth of the dead 
Federal. 

Sholl held up and rode his horse about nine miles 
that night, and was taken to the home of a widow 
by the name of Young, where he died the next morn- 
ing, and, just before he died, he told the boys that 
he wanted Captain Todd to have his horse. During 
this fight in the lane, Al Wyatt's horse also became 
unmanageable and ran into the Federals. Wyatt was 
shot in the breast and instantly killed. He had only 
been with us a few days. I took his spurs and sent 
them to his wife. After the Federals had left the lane 
<:nd we had quit following them, they began to fire 
at us and one of the balls struck Captain Scott in the 
neck. He threw up his hands, exclaming, "I am a 
dead man," and fell from his horse. These three men, 
Captain Scott, Al Wyatt and Boone Sholl, were the 
only men we lost. Not another one of our men was 
even wounded. We tied the bodies of Captain Scott 
and Al Wyatt across their saddles and, leading their 
horses, took them to a graveyard, and, wrapping 
their blankets around them, buried them. 

CHAPTER IX. 

We then went into camp on Cedar Creek at a ren- 
dezvous we called the "bull-pen." This was situated 
in the dense woods about a mile from Cedar Creek. 
There w^re two ways of approaching the "bull pen." 
one through the bottom and the other through the 
woods south of John Moore's farm. We never ap- 
proached this camp together, nor left it together, al- 



^0 Three Years With Quantrell 

ways going separately in different directions, in this 
way leaving no trail and this camp never was dis- 
covered by the Federals until after the war. 

We stayed in this camp for four or five days wait- 
ing to hear from Colonel Quantrell. In a few days, 
v/e went with Captain Todd down on the Sni and 
joined Quantrell. Dave Poole took forty of us with 
him and went down in what was known as the Dutch 
settlement in Lafayette County, near Concordia. 
There was stationed there a company of Dutch mili- 
t-a, who held a fort or blockhouse near the town, and, 
whenever any strangers were seen in that neighbor- 
h'-od, the- would blow the dinner horns and ring 
the bells all running for the blockhouse, and when 
vv^e reached there, we found them all securely forti- 
fied, in the blockliouse, and having only side arms 
with us, we left them alone, and securing a number 
of extra good horses, v/e returned to the Sni. In a 
few days, we went over to Olathe, Kansas, and cap- 
tured a Federal major and found a Mexican wagon- 
train. We did not molest the Mexicans, but I traded 
hats with the wagon master and also traded my 
Colt's revolver for a dragoon pistol. 

One morning Captain Todd, with about twenty 
of us, started south to Big Creek, and, at a point 
v/here the town of Lee's Summit is now located, we 
met a company of thirty Federals and before they 
had time to form in line, we charged them and they 
scattered and we chased them on the prairie, killing 
seven of them. Captain Todd was riding a horse that 
Boone Sholl had left him and the horse acted the 
same way that he did with Sholl, running off with 



Three Years With Quantrell yi 

him and right through the Federals, Todd receiving 
a slight wound in his arm. Todd then wanted to 
trade horses with me, but I told him that I didn't 
want anything to do with that damned Yankee 
horse, that he had as well kill him as me, but, after 
the captain had offered me sufficient inducements, I 
finally traded with him. We went back to Pleasant 
Hill and from there to Chapel Hill in Johnson Coun- 
ty. There were six or eight of us riding in advance, 
when we encountered twelve or fifteen Federals and 
charged them. They formed in line and fired, killing 
Bill Greenwood's horse, which fell, throwing Bill 
over its head. Before Bill had time to regain his 
feet a Federal soldier rode up to him and, drawing 
his revolver, commanded Bill to hand over his pis- 
tols. Greenwood, who had the reputation of being 
one of the best and quickest pistol shots in the com- 
pany, replied, "All right,'' and drawing his pistols, 
fired. The Federal fell; Bill grabbed his horse by the 
bridle and swinging himself into the saddle, came 
galloping up, remarking, ''Boys, I made a good 
horse trade." We went back on the Sni and rejoined 
Quantrell. We went from there to Bone Hill and 
from there to Sibley, on the Missouri River. While, 
at Sibley, we saw a militiaman standing in the door 
of a house across the Missouri river. I drew my big* 
dragoon pistol, that I had gotten from the Mexican, 
I fired at the militiaman, who very promptly left the 
door and I afterwards learned from a friend that the 
ball buried itself just over his head in the door. 

We then returned to the Little Blue and separated. 
One morning, Will Bassham asked me to go over to 



'jz Three Years With Quantrell 

his uncle's, Jack Bassham's with him. While we were 
waiting for our breakfast to be cooked, Will went in- 
to another room to change his clothes and I was to 
stand in the door and watch for Federals. Mr. Bass- 
ham had two daughters. Miss Annie and Miss Mai- 
sie. Miss Annie came to the door and was talking 
with me, and, being very pretty and very attractive, 
my attention was on her and not on the Federals. 
After we had stood there a few moments, her moth- 
er called her and, as soon as she had left the door, to 
my utter surprise, nine Federals rose from behind a 
clump of bushes, not over forty yards from me and 
fired at me. This was the first intimation I had of 
their presence. I called to Bill to get out quick. We 
sprang on our horses and dashed across the field and 
the Federals yelled at us, "Oh, damn you, we'll eat 
your breakfast for you." When we came on the road 
leading to Blue Springs, we met Captain Todd, Lee 
McMurty and Will Hulse. Hulse and I then rode in 
iront and he exclaimed, stopping his horse, "Yon- 
der is a damned Yankee kneeling in the brush," and 
we both fired at him and then turned and went 
back. At this time the Federals, in groups of fifteen 
or twenty were scouring that country watching for 
us, guarding all the fords and crossroads and the 
houses of all our friends, which kept us constantly 
on the lookout. After shooting at the Yankee, we 
went to the house of a friend, Jim Woods, to see if 
we could not have better luck getting our breakfast, 
but, just as we got to Woods' yard, we found anoth- 
er squad of Federals there ahead of us. We exchang- 
ed a few shots with them and left and about ii o'- 



Three Years With Quantrell yj 

clock, succeeded in getting something to eat at the 
Widow Dillingham's. About this time, Cole Young- 
er decided that he just must see his sweetheart, a 
Miss Lizzie Brown who lived about two miles north- 
west of Harrisonville, and so he persuaded Tom 
Tally, Will Hulse, George Wigginton and George 
Jackson and myself to go with him and act as his 
bodyguard and to protect him while he talked to his 
sweetheart. We stayed in this neighborhood for 
about a week. Cole going to see his girl every day 
and every night. We had no trouble on this trip, al- 
though we were within two miles of three hundred 
Federals who were located in Harrisonville. Going 
back to Big Creek, we started across the prairie to 
Hickory Grove, and when we had reached a high 
point on the road leading from Kansas City to Lone 
Jack, we saw a regiment of Federal soldiers, which 
we afterwards learned was the Seventh Kansas Cav- 
alry. As soon as they saw us, they started in pursuit 
and followed us six miles across the prairie. When 
we had reached the top of another ridge. Cole 
Younger said, ''Hold up, boys, they have run a mile, 
while we've only run a half. Hold your horses back 
and save them for the dash in the woods." He and I 
dropped back behind the boys, trying to hold them 
in check and when we had gotten within half a mile 
of the timber. Cole yelled, "Now give your horses 
their heads." We soon were in the brush, when Cole 
wheeled his horse and waved his hat and told them 
now to come on, but they refused to follow us into 
the woods. The next day Colonel Quantrell himself 
took command and we went over to Pink Hill, and 



74 Three Years With Quantrell 

being informed that on Texas Prairie, which was 
about ten miles distant, there was a company of Fed- 
erals, we went in that direction, but when we got 
there, we found that it was a regiment instead of a 
company, and as soon as they saw us, they started 
after us and followed us ten or twelve miles across 
the Sni and on to Little Blue. When about a mile 
from the Little Blue, having gotten over the brow 
of a hill, Quantrell orde'red us to form in line, about 
face and charge them. This checked them and they 
turned and went back towards Lexington. We killed 
several of them. We scattered that evening in order 
to get our supper and while one of our men, Jim 
Tucker, was eating his supper, they captured him. 
They took him to where the company was camped 
and kept him all night and the next morning about 
daylight, Tucker and his guard were a little distance 
from the company, when Tucker suddenly wheeled 
on him, struck him with his fist, knocked him down 
and dashing into the brush, escaped. They fired a 
number of shots at him, but he was not struck, and 
when he returned to camp, he composed a song, us- 
ing the tune of that old negro song, "Run, nigger, 
run, or the pat-er-ole'll catch you,'' and the chorus 
of his song was: 

Run, Jim run, or the Feds will cetch you, 
They shot ten times and never tetched you. 
We went from there over to the Missouri river at 
a point between Wellington and Sibley and, during 
the night, we saw a steamboat coming up the INIis- 
souri river. We hitched our horses in the brush, and 
concealed ourselves on the bank near a bend in the 



Three Years With Quantrell j$ 

river. When the boat was opposite us, Quantrell hail- 
ed the boat and ordered the captain to land or we 
would sink the boat, and when she landed, we order- 
ed the stage plank lowered and went aboard. We 
found aboard about a dozen Kansas soldiers and a 
good many negroes. The Kansas soldiers and the 
negroes were paroled and, after taking a number of 
horses, and throwing the Government supplies over- 
board, we then let the boat and the passengers pro- 
ceed on their way. This boat was called the Sam 
Gatey. John Ross captured a very fine sorrel stallion 
that was being shipped to a Federal officer at Kan- 
sas City and gave him the name of the boat. 

In September, 1863, Captain Bill Anderson and his 
company joined us. At this time, the outrages com- 
mitted by the Federal troops, which consisted most- 
ly of Home Guards and Kansas Redlegs and Jay- 
hawkers, beggars description. At this late day, it 
seems impossible that human beings could have 
been guilty of such merciless outrages as these men 
mitted. Among the leaders of these bands were Jen- 
nison, Jim Lane and a Captain Mead and I will only 
attempt to give a few of their acts as an illustration 
of their brutality and to further impress upon the 
minds of my readers why we acted as we did. Cap- 
tain Mead, with his band went to the home of Mrs. 
Carter, a widow seventy years of age, and compelled 
her, at the hour of 12 o'clock at night to ride fourteen 
miles horseback, facing a bitter snowstorm, to the 
town of Independence, where she was lodged in jail 
for feeding rebel soldiers, her two boys being in the 
Confederate Army. 



7^ Three Years With Quantrell 

About this time, the Federal soldiers at Kansas 
City, under the command of General Ewing, were 
guilty of one of the most brutal and fiendish acts 
that ever disgraced a so-called civilized nation. My 
sister, Mrs. Charity Kerr and my sister-in-law, Mrs. 
Nannie McCorkle, the widow of my brother, Jabez,. 
went to Kansas City in a wagon, driving a yoke of 
oxen, with a load of wheat to exchange it for flour, 
the women then having all the buying to do. When 
they had procured their flour and were ready to start 
home, Anderson Cowgill, a neighbor, who had 
known these girls all their lives, and the same man 
who refused to speak to me when we paroled him at 
Independence, saw these two girls and reported to 
the authorities that these two women were rebels 
and were buying flour to feed the bushwhackers. 
They were immediately arrested and placed in jail 
with some other girls, who had been arrested and 
sentenced to be banished and here I copy the follow- 
ing description of what occurred as given by Mrs, 
Flora Stevens, as she stood at the grave of Josephine 
Anderson and published in the Kansas City Post^ 
under date of May 2, 1912: 

"There were nine of these girls in the prison at 
1409 Grand Avenue, when it fell. One of these was 
Josephine Anderson. Her two sisters, Mollie, aged 
sixteen, and Janie, ten years old, were also prisoners 
with her, and it was these three especially that the 
Union soldiers wanted to kill because they were sis- 
ters of Bill Anderson, the guerrila. The others were 
Mrs. Susan Vandiver, Mrs. Armenia Whitsett-Gil- 
vey and Mrs. Christie McCorkle Kerr, all of whom 



\ 



Three Years With Quantrell yj 

were killed and Miss Mollie Cranstafif, now Mrs. 
William Clay, Miss Sue Mundy, now Mrs. N. M. 
Womacks of Blue Springs and Mrs. Nan Harris Mc- 
Corkle. The last three escaped with serious injuries. 
These girls, none of whom were more than twenty 
years old, had been arrested and brought in by the 
Union soldiers because they were Southern sympa- 
thizers and were being held in prison while waiting 
to be banished. When the soldiers heard that Bill 
Anderson's sisters were in their power, they determ- 
ined to kill them. The first inkling of the plot was 
when Mrs. B. F. Duke, who now lives at 1717 Wa- 
bash avenue, but who then had a boarding house at 
Independence Avenue and Oak Street, heard some 
of the soldiers who were staying at her house speak 
of the progress they were making in tearing down a 
wall. Mrs. Duke was a cousin of Bill Anderson, but 
the soldiers did not know it and told her of their 
scheme, and how they had removed a large section 
of the foundation wall of the woman's prison. Gen- 
eral Bingham, the owner of the building, had pro- 
tested, they said, but it did not stop them. The build- 
mg did not fall the first day, so more of the wall was 
removed and it was at this time that Mrs. Duke 
learned of it. She was beside herself with rage and 
ordered all the soldiers from the house. With a num- 
ber of friends she hurried to the military headquar- 
ters and begged that the girls be taken from the 
building before they were killed. Their pleadings 
were in vain and an hour later the building fell. The 
girls had been uneasy by hearing the people on the 
floor below moving out their stock of groceries and 



7* Three Years With Quantrell '< 

whisky which they took to a safe place. The plaster- 
ing had been falling all day and the girls were in a 
panic. Nan Harris and Mollie Anderson had just 
gone out into the hall for a bucket of water, when 
they heard cries from the other girls that the roof 
was falling. The guard, evidently repenting at the 
4ast moment, carried these two girls to safety. Janie 
Anderson, who was the youngest, tried to escape 
through a window, but a twelve pound ball that had 
been chained to her ankle held her back and both her 
legs were broken. The other girls went down with 
the ruins. There were groans and screams for a long 
time, and Josephine Anderson could be heard calling 
for someone to take the bricks off her head. Finally 
her cries ceased." 

This foul murder was the direct cause of the fa- 
mous raid on Lawrence, Kansas. We could stand no 
more. Imagine, if you can, my feelings. A loved sis- 
ter foully murdered and the widow of a dead brother 
seriously hurt by a set of men to whom the name as- 
sassins, murderers and cutthroats would be a compli- 
ment. People abuse us, but, my God, did we not have 
enough to make us desperate and thirst for revenge? 
We tried to fight like soldiers, but were declared out- 
laws, huntd under a black flag and murdered like 
beasts. The homes of our friends burned, our aged 
sires, who dared sympathize with us had been either 
hung or shot in the presence of their famalies and all 
their furniture and provisions loaded in wagons and 
with our live stock taken to the state of Kansas. The 
beautiful farming country of Jackson county, Cass 
Countv and Johnson C'^'in^v w^ere worse than desert. 



Three Years With Quantrell yg 

and on every hillside stood lone blackened chimneys, 
sad sentinels and monuments to the memory of our 
once happy homes. And these outrages had been 
done by Kansas troops, calling themselves soldiers, 
but a disgrace to the name soldier. And now our in- 
nocent and beautiful girls had been murdered in a 
most foul, brutal, savage and damnable manner. We 
were determined to have revenge, and so, Colonel 
Quantrell and Captain Anderson planned a raid on 
Lawrence, Kansas, the home of the leaders, Jim Lane 
and Jennison. 

CHAPTER X. 

We were all in camp in our headquarters on the 
banks of the Sni. Colonel Quantrell and Captain 
Anderson were getting the boys together for the raid 
on Lawrence, Kansas. The day before they started 
to Lawrence, Colonel Quantrell sent Andy Blount 
with fifteen men down into Johnson County in order 
to attract the Federal forces in that direction. After 
the fifteen men left with Blount, there still remained 
with Colonel Quantrell and Anderson about 150 
men. On the morning of the 20th of August, Quan- 
trell gave the order to break camp and march in a 
southwesterly direction, and went over on the Big 
Blue to a point south of Little Santa Fe, a town just 
on the Kansas line. His entire march until he reach- 
ed the Kansas line was through smoking ruins and 
blackened fields. He halted in the woods all day and 
just about dark he gave the order to mount and 
crossed into Kansas at a point about ten miles south 



8o Three Years With Quantrell 

of Little Santa Fe and turned directly west toward 
the town of Lawrence, and, riding all night, the town 
was reached just at daylight. At the entrance to the 
town, there were a lot of tents in which were camped 
a detachment of negro soldiers and a few white men. 
The command halted here and someone fired a shot. 
Immediately the negroes and white men rushed out 
of their tents, the majority of them starting in the 
direction of the river and some going in the direction 
of town. The command was given to break ranks, 
scatter and follow them. A few of the negroes 
reached the river, plunging inta it, but none succeed- 
ed in reaching the opposite shore. The troops then 
dashed back up into the town, down the main street, 
shooting at every blue coat that came in sight. Just 
before entering the town Colonel Quantrell turned to 
his men and said, "Boys, this is the home of Jim 
Lane and Jennison; remember that in hunting us 
they gave no quarter. Shoot every soldier you see, 
but in no way harm a woman or a child." He dashed 
ahead of his command down Main Street, firing his 
pistol twice, dismounted from his horse and went in- 
to the hotel, where he was met by the landlord, 
whom he recognized as an old friend and immediate- 
ly gave orders for the landlord not to be molested 
and stayed in the hotel and guarded him. During all 
this time, his command were busy hunting men with 
blue clothes and setting fire to the town. Jim Lane 
and Jennison were the ones wanted and some of the 
boys dashed at once to Jim Lane's house, but;, 
unfortunately for the world, did not find him. They 
found his saber, which was very handsome, the scab- 




TOM LITTLE. 



Three Years With Quantrell 8i 

bard being heavily gold-plated. In the parlor of 
Lane's house, there were three pianos and the boys 
recognized two of them as having belonged to South- 
ern people in Jackson County, and a great many oth- 
er things belonging to Southern people were found 
in his house. Quantrell remained in Lawrence about 
two hours and when he left, the town was in ashes 
and 1^5 Jayhawkers were dead. Lane and Jennison 
had made desolate the border counties of Missouri, 
pillaged and burned homes, murdered Southern men, 
msulted, outraged and murdered the wives and sis- 
ters of these men. Quantrell and his command had 
come to Lawrence to be avenged and they were. In 
this raid, a few innocent men may have been killed 
but this was not intentional. 

As the command left the town, they discovered 
a command of Federals coming in pursuit. The 
whole face of the earth looked blue. One of Quan- 
trell's men returned to the town and was literally 
riddled with bullets. The command then turned 
south, with the Federals still in close pursuit and 
having gone about two miles, stopped at a big house. 
There was no one at home, but the doors were open 
and one of the rooms was fitted up as a doctor's of- 
fice, a lot of bottles and medicine setting on the 
shelves. The boys knocked the medicine all down 
and soon the house was afire, a case of spontaneous 
combustion. Tom Hamilton and another one of boys 
were wounded in Lawrence; they were placed in as 
ambulance and brought to the commnad. These were 
placed with the advance guard of twenty men under 
Dick Yeager, who was appointed to pilot the com- 



82 Three Years With Quantrell 

mand out. Before the horess had finished eating, the 
pickets fired; the order was given to mount and go 
west through a lane, the Federals getting closer all 
the time. At the mouth of the lane, Quantrell gave 
the command to form in line and, as the Federals 
came in sight, coming through a corn-field, he order- 
ed a charge, the Federals running back a short dis- 
tance. He again fell back and the Federals crowded 
right up. Some of the men becoming excited, broke 
ranks and rushed to the advance o-uard. Ouantrell 
immediately formed his remainder in line and gave 
orders to shoot any man who attempted to pass. 
When the men had been quited and formed in line 
again, he said to them, "Now, if any of you intend to 
break ranks again, do it now; if you stay with me 
and act like men, I can get you out of this, but if you 
are going to run, go now, but do not come back to 
me." After this not a man broke ranks. The command 
then marched in line of battle all day, the Federals 
still following close and several times they started 
to charge, but when they would hear Quantrell give 
the command to about face, the Federals would al- 
ways stop. Late in the evening, when within about 
fiive or six miles of the little town of Auberry, Yea- 
ger was seen to suddenly turn to the left. Quantrell 
remarked, "Boys, there's something wrong, or Dick 
Yeager would not have turned off." When the top of 
the ridge was reached, there was a regiment of Fed- 
erals formed in line of battle. They stood in line un- 
til the entire command had passed, never offering to 
make a move or fire a shot. If they had made a 
charge while the other regiment was in the rear of 



Three Years With Quantrell 83 

Quantrell and his command none of the command 
would ever have escaped. About ten o'clock at night, 
having reached a large pool of water, the command 
was given to unsaddle and to hold our horses by the 
bridles and let the meat grass and for none of us to 
go to sleep. Dick Barry and I sat down on our sad- 
dles and, not having closed our eyes for two days 
and two nights, we both dropped oft to sleep and the 
next thing we heard was the command to saddle and 
mount. We sprang to our feet and our horses were 
both gone and, just at this time, we heard some of 
the boys say, "Here's a loose horse,'' I stayed with 
the saddles and Dick soon returned with our horses. 
We were soon mounted and rode all night long and, 
at sun rise, we reached the head of Grand River in 
Cass County, Missouri. From a ridge, we looked 
back into Kansas and the whole face of the earth 
was black with Federals following us. The two 
wounded men were then hid in the woods, but the 
Federals soon found them and killed them. We re- 
mained here and rested our horses until the Federals 
were within half a mile of us when we went across 
the prairie to Big Creek. Late in the evening, I saw 
some men to the right of the road in the edge of the 
timber. I told Quantrell that they were Federals and 
he said, "No, it's Andy Blount returning from John- 
son county." I insisted that Blount did not have that 
many men with him, but he insisted that he was 
right and we moved right toward them. I remarked, 
*'I reckon you can see their uniforms now and tell 
who they are," to which he replied, "If you are so 
damed. certain of it, ride out and see." I started to- 



S4 Three Years With Quantrell 

ward them in a gallop, two of them coming to meet 
me, firing at me. Quantrell then remarked, "That'll 
do, John; you are right. Come back." We then turn- 
ed due east and they made a charge on us and, as we 
crossed a little ravine, they fired a volley at us, but 
struck none of us. In about a mile, having come to 
the Big Creek timber, Quantrell said "Disband and 
every man take care of himself." 

CHAPTER XL 

I was truly glad when Colonel Quantrell gave 
the command because I was well acquainted in that 
country and wanted to get away from the command 
for it looked to me as if every bush had a Yankee be- 
hind it. I turned my horse into the brush about a 
hundred yards from the Federals and about forty of 
the boys started to follow me. I turned to them and 
said, "Boys, this'll never do; they can follow this 
bunch as well as they could the whole command, and 
they'll be on us in twenty minutes." As soon as we 
got to the creek we separated and seven of the boys 
went with me down the creek in the water about fifty 
yards and then coming out on the same side into the 
brush. Going about lOO yards into the brush, I told 
the boys to dismount and hold their horses by the 
bridles. We had hardly dismounted, when we saw 
the Federals going down the creek after the other 
boys and we soon heard some firing, but I do not 
think anyone was hurt. I was well acquainted with 
this locality and told the boys that I knew who lived 
there and, riding to the corn-field, some of the boys 



Three Years With Quantrell 85 

got corn and fed their horses while the others watch- 
ed. I very cautiously went around toward the house 
and saw a man ai the barn, feeding his stock. I gave 
him a signal and he came to the fence. As soon as he 
recognized me, he exclaimed, "Great God, John, 
haven't they got you yet?" I replied, "No, and they 
will not get me.'' "Yes,, they will," he said, "this 
country is full of them," to which I replied, "Well, if 
they do, while they are getting me, I'll get some of 
them.'' I then told him that we had not had a mouth- 
ful to eat for two days and two nights. He said he 
had plenty to eat, but nothing cooked, and for me to 
go into the woods and he would have his women 
cook us something to eat and he would bring it to us, 
but not to make any light. In a short time the old 
man came out and two of his girls with him, each 
carrying a bucket or a basket and one of them a large 
pot of coffee. After we had eaten our supper, I order- 
ed the boys to saddle up, knowing that the Federals 
would be there next morning. We crossed the road 
leading from Pleasant Hill to Harrisonville and took 
a by-road leading through the fields, and, just before 
we came out on the main road, we heard the Federals 
crossing a bridge on Big Creek. They were coming 
directly towards us. W^e rode out into a corn field, 
dismounted and held our horses until they had pass- 
ed. We then rode across the road into another corn- 
field and I told the boys to ride fast, which we did for 
about two miles and then went into the Big Creek 
bottom. At the lower end of the bottom, we crossed 
Bi^ Creek at a cow ford. We then went into the 
woods, where we hitched our horses and, having 



86 Three Years With Quantrell 

been in the saddle for three days and three nights, 
without any sleep, we soon w^ent to sleep and did not 
wake up until nine o'clock the next morning. That 
day we secured food from a neighborning house and, 
after dark, we rode out on the prairie where we could 
see the lights from two Federal camps about a m^ile 
apart. I told the boys that it would be dangerous for 
us to attempt to go either to the right or left of these 
camps and we decided to ride between and we were 
not even halted. We then went over on th Little Blue 
and stayed in the woods for several days. 

About this time, there was issued by General 
Ev^ing, in command of the Federal troops at Kansas 
City, the famous Order No. ii, which was as fol- 
lows : 

Headquarters District of the Border, 

Kansas City, Mo., August 25, 1863. 

First: All persons Hving in Ca§s, Jackson and Bates 
Counties, Missouri, and in that part of Vernon County, in- 
cluded in this district, except those living within one mile of 
the city limits of Independence, Hickman's Mills, Pleasant 
Hill and Harrisonville, and except those in that part of Kaw 
Township, Jackson County, north of Brush Creek and west 
of the Big Blue, embracing Kansas City and Westport, are 
hereby ordered to move from their present places of residence 
within 15 days from the date hereof. Those who within that 
time establish their loyalty to the satisfaction of the com- 
manding officer of the military station nearest their present 
place of residence, will receive from him certificates stating 
the facts of their loyalty and the names by whom it can be 
shown. All who receive such certificates will be permitted to 
remove to any military station in this district or to any part 
of the State of Kansas, except all the counties on the eastern 
border of the state. All others shall remain out of the district. 

Officers commanding companies and detachments, serv- 
ing in the counties named will see that this paragraph is 
promptly obeyed. 

Second : All grain or hay in the fields or under shelter in 



Three Years With Quantrell 87 

the district from which the inhabitants are required to move 
within reach of military stations, after the ninth day of Sep- 
tember will be taken to such stations and turned over to the 
proper officers there ; and report of the amount so turned over 
made to the district headquarters specifying the names of all 
loyal owners and the amount of such produce taken from 
them. All grain and hay found in such district after the ninth 
day of September next, not removed to such stations will be 
destroyed. 

(Signed) H. Hannans, Adjutant, by order 

Brigadier-General E'wing, 

The effect of this order meant utter ruin to aU 
Southern citizens in this district. They were banish- 
ed and robbed by the same order. No transportation 
was prepared for them. Their horses, mules and cat- 
tle had already been stolen and taken to Kansas 
along with their buggies, carriages and wagons, but 
fortunately it may be said, they did not have very 
much left to move. 

In September 1863, Captain Bill Anderson again 
joined us and, after supplying ourselves with ammu- 
nition and clothing, we all started south again, there 
being about 150 men in both commands. We pro- 
ceeded through southwest Missouri without meeting 
and Federals until we reached Carthage, in Jasper 
County. Having stopped near this town, we were 
awakened, just before day, by the noise of moving 
wagons. Colonel Quantrell immediately sent out 
scouts, who reported that there were a company of 
Federals moving north, and that they so greatly out- 
numbered us that we decided not to molest them. 
Going a little distance from this town, the boys 
brought into our camp two men claiming to be 
Southern men and Quantrell secured one of them a 



S8 Three Years With Quantrell 

guide. About dark, we left camp and came to the 
load leading from Neosho to Fort Scott, on which 
we traveled until about 9 or 10 o'clock that night. 
Captain Todd rode up to me about that time and I 
asked him where Quantrell was going and he told 
me South. I then told him that we were going wrong 
and that our new-found guide was leading us to 
Fort Scott, Kansas, where there was a large force of 
Federals. I was well acquainted with this part of the 
country and knew what I was talking about. Quan- 
trell sent for me and, after talking with him for 
awhile, he told me to take the lead and, if I did not 
show him the right way out of that country, he 
would shoot me. I told him to command the men to 
countermarch and, taking the lead with the advance 
guard, went back along the road for three miles and 
turning out of the road into a prairie, about 2 or 3 
o'clock in the morning, we came to Reading's Mill 
on Shoal Creek in Newton County. Quantrell knew 
this place and, calling me to him, said, "John, you 
do know this country, and I will not have to shoot 
you. He then told me to go over to the mill and re- 
connoitre. I took Allen Palmer with me. We rapped 
on the door of the mill and one of the Redding boys 
came to the door and, recognizing me, asked me 
what I was doing there. I told him that I was with 
a command and wanted to know if there were any 
Federals in the country. He said none that he knew 
of nearer than Neosho, which was twelve miles dis- 
tant. He told us to go up into his corn-field, hitch 
our horses and come back by the mill and get all the 
flour and bacon we wanted. The next morning we 



Three Years With Quant rell 8g 

had a fine breakfast, bread made up of flour and wa- 
ter and twisted around a stick and cooked, broiled 
bacon and coffee. We then went from there to Fvie 
Mile Creek and there discovered a number of tracks 
of horses and Ouantrell ordered us to follow them 
and when we reached the bottom south of the Neosho 
River we found ten or fifteen Federal soldiers guard- 
ing some wagons loaded with lumber going toward 
Baxter Springs. I sent word back to Colonel Quan- 
Irell and he came forward and ordered us to follow 
them. We captured the wagons as they were 
crossing the creek, the men on the horses dashing up 
the creek. Dave Poole took command of the advance 
guard of twenty men and followed the Federals, 
telling me to remain and inform Ouantrell of the di- 
rection he had taken. We all then rushed up the 
creek and to our utter surprise, we found a fort at 
Baxter Springs. None of us had ever heard that 
there was a fort there with a command of troops 
stationed in it. While the boys were riding around 
trying to get a shot at the gunners in the fort, Ouan- 
trell himself discovered a company of Federals with 
a wagon train, ambulance and buggies, who were 
drawn up in line of battle on the prairie. We after- 
wards learned that this was General Blount's body 
guard of about two hundred men with nineteen wag- 
ons, four ambulances and five buggies and a brass 
band, that he had formed in line for the purpose of 
marching down to the fort at Baxter Springs and to 
have his band serenade them and take breakfast 
with them. Ouantrell turned to me and told me to 
get the boys away from the fort and to form in line. 



<^o Three Years With Quantrell 

just as I had succeeded, the Federals fired from the 
fort with their two cannon, one of the balls litterally 
decapitating Dave Woods. Quantrell then rode be- 
hind the lines and when he had reached the center, 
rode out in front, taking oft his hat, placed it in the 
bosom of his coat, touched his horse with his spur 
and said, "Come on, boys," and we started toward 
them in a run. When about seventy-five yards from 
the Federals we went into a little branch and then 
they fired on us, but did us no damage, none of our 
men even hearing a bullet whistle. We then went at 
them in our accustomed manner, yelling and shoot- 
ing and they scattered across the prairie, running 
in all directions. There was an ofiicer and a woman 
in a buggy, driving a very handsome pair of bay 
liorses. Several of us boys tried to catch them and 
followed them about a mile and of course, we would 
iiot shoot at them on account of the v/oman. The 
v/oman w.'is holding the lines and the man whipping 
the horses, and when they reached the main road, 
we decided to let them go and turned back on the 
prairie after the men. We really wanted the horses 
worse than we did the Colonel. We followed these 
soldiers for about three miles leaving most of them 
on the prairie and there were only a few of them that 
ever returned our fire. I galloped up to the side of a 
Federal officer, who had his revolver in his hand 
and commanded him to halt, but he only spurred his 
horse the harder. I snapped my pistol at him six 
times and discovered it was empty. I then struck 
him over the head with my pistol. He fell from his 
horse and I led his horse on with me. George Mad- 



Three Years With Quantrell gi 

dox caught up with a yellow negro driving General 
Blount's team. Blunt had left the buggy and mount- 
ed a horse and escaped when he first saw us. The 
team was an elegant pair of dun horses with docked 
tails. When Maddox first covered the negro with 
his pistol, the negro threw up his hands and said, 
"Before you shoot me, I want to ask you a question.'^ 
Maddox told him to ask it damned quick. He then 
asked if Captain George Todd was in this command, 
Maddox told him he was and then the negro said, 
"Please don't shoot me until I see him." Maddox 
then took the negro up to where the wagon train 
was and told Captain Todd, and when Captain 
Todd had gotten within sixty feet of the negro, 
Todd exclaimed, "By God, it's Rube," and jumping 
off of his horse, ran tip to him and shook hands with 
him and was as delighted to see him as if he had 
been a long-lost brother. Captain Todd then turned 
to the men and said, "Boys, the first man that hurts 
this nigger, I will kill." He then told us that dur- 
ing the winter of 1862, when he had returned from 
the South, where he had been with General Price 
and was visiting his wife, who was staying at his 
father's house in Kansas City, he was in the habit 
of going to a barber shop, which was run by Rube, 
who had for a number of years been known as a free 
negro. After Captain Todd had been in Kansas 
City several days, the Federal soldiers learned that 
he was there and determined to capture him and 
hang him, and some of them were discussing their 
plans in Rube's barber shop. As soon as Rube 
heard this, he immediately went to Captain Todd's 



$2 Three Year^ With Quantrell 

lather's house and informed him of the Federal 
plans, and told Captain Todd to wait until dark, 
then come to his house and go into the cellar. He 
stayed in this cellar for ten days. Rube feeding and 
taking care of him and keeping constantly on the 
lookout for the Federals, and one night assisted him 
in getting out of Kansas City. After Captain Todd 
had related to us these facts, none of the boys de- 
sired to harm Rube and we took him on South with 
.us. 

John Koger, one of our men, while busily en- 
gaged in examining the contents of a wagon, was 
shot from the fort, three buckshot and an ounce ball 
striking him in the back. It seemed that it was im- 
possible to kill him, for at this time he already had 
in his body five Federal bullets, and fully recovered 
from these last wounds and lived until the fall 
of 1913. 

Bill Bledsoe was riding by the Federal band- 
wagon when one of the members of the band fired 
en him, mortally wounding him. The driver of the 
l^andwagon immediately forced his horses into a 
run. When Bledsoe fell from his horse, he said to 
Fletch Taylor, "FJetch, that outfit have shot and 
l-:illed me- take my two pistols and kill all of them." 
Taylor immediately started in pursuit of the band- 
wagon and, in about a half a mile, one of the wheels 
■came oft* of the bandwagon, throwing the occupants 
'Out, and Taylor dashed up to them and carried out 
Bledsoe's dying request, and then returned to Bled- 
soe and found him dead. 

When T returned from chasing the Federals. I 



Three Years With Quantrell gj 

met Colonel Quantrell coming from the wagon train, 
having in front of him, on his horse, a five-gallon 
demijohn of brandy that had been taken from Gen- 
eral Blount's buggy. When he saw me, he said, 
in a vei*>' gruff manner, "J^^" ^ thought you always 
knew that whenever a pilot led me into trouble, I 
always shoot him," and thinking that he was in 
earnest, I drew my revolver, remarking, *'If you can 
shoot quicker than I can, shoot.'' He laughed and 
said, "Put that thing up, you damned fool; I'm go- 
mg to shoot you in the neck," and handed me the 
demijohn of brandy. After shooting myself in the 
neck wUh the brandy, I rode up to a wagon that had 
already begun to burn and, seeing a small trunk in 
it, I threw it on the ground and breaking it open, I 
found it to contain a very handsome Federal colo- 
nel's uniform, a pair of fine cavalry boots, six white 
shirts and a pair of Colt's revolvers. Wrapping all 
of it except the revolvers in an oil-cloth, which I tied 
on the horse that I had taken fro ma Yankee, I rode 
on to another wagon where I found a fine saddle be- 
longing to General Blount and I also found in the 
buggy General Blount's saber. I gave the saber and 
saddle to Colonel Quantrell and he afterwards pre- 
sented the saber to General Sterling Price. General 
Blount was in the regular army, but when we exam- 
ined his flag, which we captured here, we found sew- 
ed around the x\merican eagle on the flag a border 
of black silk, which meant no quarter. 

During this day we captured the notorious ne- 
gro, Jack Mann, whose history we all well knew; 
havincf been raised in Jackson Countv, he was well 



g4 Three Years With Quantrell 

acquainted with the locality and with all of the citi- 
zens and in 1861 he ran away from his owner and 
joined the Kansas redlegs and acted as their guide 
in a number of their murdering raids into Missouri. 
He was exceedingly insulting to the Southern peo- 
ple and especially so to the women and old men and, 
on one occasion, he led a squad of Kansas redlegs to 
the house of Dick Maddox, who was with us and, 
finding no one at home but Mrs. Maddox, this negro 
entered the house with his white associates and, 
cursing and abusing her all of the time. In ransack- 
ing the house, this black fiend found Maddox's wed- 
ding suit and, undressing before Mrs. Maddox, put 
the wedding suit on and, striding up before her, said, 
"How do you like my looks with this wedding suit 
on?" He had been guilty of a number of other simi- 
lar offenses. When we captured him, Maddox, who 
was with us, wanted to shoot him at once, but Quan- 
trell told him to wait, and that we would attend to 
his case later on. 

After destroying this Vv^agon train, we took an 
ambulance with four mules and let Rube, Captain 
Todd's pet nigger, drive his buggy. We put John 
Koger and Bill Bledsoe's corpse in the ambulance. 
When we had gone about ten miles, we stopped and 
buried Bill Bledsoe in an old cabin. While we were 
burying Bill, we left Will McGuire to guard the ne- 
gro Jack Mann, who had made some insulting re- 
marks to IMcGuire, who could stand it no longer and, 
drav/ing his revolver, shot him between the e3-es. 
When Dick Maddox saw McGuire shoot the negro, 
he drew his revolver and started to shoot McGuire, 



Three Years With Quantrell p5 

because he had not let him shoot the black fiend. 
About sundown that evening, we came upon a wag- 
on train of Pin Indians, who were supposed to be in 
the service of the Federal government and who, with 
the Kansas Jayhawkers, had killed and scalped a 
number of women and children. We charged on the 
Indians and, in a short timiC, they were all good In- 
dians. Leaving this place, we marched until the 
next day when we came in sight of a camp of Pi;;i 
Indians, containing 800 or a 1000 Indians and, know- 
ing that they were too strong for us to attack while 
in camp, we went into camp near them, raising Gen- 
eral Blount's flag in the hope that they would scatter 
and we could get at them. Captain Todd, while at- 
tempting to kill a beef, was hurt by his horse falling 
with him and he was placed in the ambulance for 
two or three days. We had no more real fighting for 
several days, occasionally "rounding up" a stray In- 
dian and a stray nigger, and one morning. Bill Tol- 
ler came across three armed negroes. They fired on 
him, shooting him through the arm, and he returned 
the fire, killing one of the negroes. We laughed at 
Bill a great deal about letting a nigger shoot him 
and get away. Having camped on a small stream, 
George Wigginton and I crossed a little branch and, 
taking the saddles from off our horses, were soon 
asleep. Quantrell not looking for any danger from 
the south, failed to place any pickets on that side of 
our camp and, just at daylight, we were awakened 
by the blast of a bugle, which was followed by a 
quick command from Colonel Quantrell, "Mount 
and form line." Wigginton and I sprank to our 



g6 Three Years With Quantiell 

horses without taking time to sadle them and rode 
into line. Just then, a soldier rode in sight and yell- 
ed, "Don't fire boys; we are friends." We then learn- 
ed that when the bugler sounded the charge their 
commander came to the ambulance where John Ro- 
ger was and asked him who we were. He then told 
them who we were and not to lire, that if they did 
there would be five hundred men killed. When learn- 
ing that we were Confderates, Colonel Mcintosh, 
their commander, rode forward and we learned that 
it was a part of the famous Confederate Indian bri- 
gade, known as Cooper and Sandwadie's command, 
which was composed of Cherokee, Chickasaw and 
Choctaw Indians and a few white men. Colonel 
Mcintosh had with him on this occasion 1,500 sol- 
diers and had us ocmpletely surrounded. Their 
scouts had reported that we were coming that way 
and, as we were carrying General Blount's flag, 
wearing blue overcoats and having with us a Feder- 
al ambulance, it was very natural to mistake us for 
Federals. After talking awhile with Colonel Ouan- 
trell. Colonel Mcintosh left pilots with us and invit- 
ed us to come to their camp, which was about fifteen 
miles away. We soon started to their camp and were 
given a hearty welcome. The commander issued ra- 
tions for us and our horses and we visited with them 
five or six days and then proceeded south across Red 
River to Sherman, Texas, where we remained two 
days and went into camp about two miles from the 
town of Sherman, where we remained for two weeks 
and then went into the neighborhood of George- 
town, on the south of Red River and remained in 



Three Years With Quantrell gy 

camp until the spring of 1864. During this winter, 
we spent our time hunting, fishing and going to 
dances and during Christmas week, quite a number 
of us attended a big ball in Sherman, having been 
mvited by the young people of Sherman. We also 
received an invitation to visit General McCullousrh 
at Bonham, Texas. During Christmas week. Cap- 
tain Bill Anderson married a Southern lady in Sher- 
man, all of us attending the wedding. 

CHAPTER XII. 

On the 20th of March, 1864, we broke camp on 
Red River and started back north. Colonel Bard 
Cockrell, a brother of the fighting General Francis 
M. Cockerell, who for so many years, was United 
States Senator from Missouri, accompanied us. 
When we reached Cooper and Sandwadie's we stop- 
ped and stayed with them two days and Colonel' 
Mcintosh came wath us as far north as the Canadian 
River. When we reached the Arkansas River, which 
was very high, after waiting two or three days for 
the water to run down and our provisions running 
short, Quantrell said we could wait no longer, but 
would have to swin it and as he was riding a good 
liorse, he would cross first, but for not more than two 
of us to enter the river at once. He urged his horse 
into the river and reaching the other side in safety, 
he rode down to two log cabins and, finding two 
hogs in one of them, he fastened the door, riding* 
back to the bank, he called to us "Hurry up, boys, 
I've got a good supper for you over here." When 



g8 Three Years With Quantrell 

we had crossed, we killed the hogs, built a fire in 
the cabin and soon had burnt and scorched pork for 
supper. On the third day, after crossing the Arkan- 
sas River, we came to the log cabin where we had 
buried Bill Bledsoe. We found the cabin torn down 
and that wolves had eaten all the flesh from his 
body. We again reinterred his bones. Near this cab- 
in, we also found the bare skull of the negro, Jack 
Mann, which we could identify by its thickness and 
2 round hole in it. Here Colonel Quantrell told me 
to take the lead as I was well acquainted with the 
country from there on. We crossed the Neosho Riv- 
er at Gilstrap's ferry and, as we reached the edge of 
Buckhardt's prairie, we saw five men, who were 
Southern men and, mistaking us for Federals, they 
ran into the woods. Colonel Cockrell, who was wear- 
ing his Confederate uniform, said he would ride into 
the woods and talk to them, but they, still thinking 
that he was a Federal in disguise, fired on him, se- 
verly wouding him in the shoulder. We had neith- 
er feed for ourselves or our horses and Colonel Cock- 
lell, who was very sore from his wound, said he 
could not ride and would have to stop. Quantrell 
told me that I would have to stay with him, which I 
very politely declined to do. He then said he would 
force me to stay, and I told him that as soon as he 
got out of sight, I would leave. Colonel Cockrell 
then decided that he could probably ride and we 
saddled his horse and he came on through with us. 
We reached South Grand River in Bates County 
and, learning that there was a company of Federals 
guarding the ford, we turned down the river and, 



Three Years With Quantrell gg 

reaching a point three miles below the ford at night, 
we made our horses swim the river. We stayed on 
the bank until morning, drying our blankets and 
clothes. When we came in sight of aDyton in Cass 
County, we saw some Federal soldiers there. We 
rode on and finally one of them rode out toward us. 
Will McGuire rode out to meet him and the Federal 
asked him what command we were. McGuire, draw- 
ing his revolver, told him we were Southern soldiers 
and he would have to go with us. 

At this time, neither men or horses had had a 
mouthful of food for four days. We then reached a 
neighborhood where the Federals had left a few 
houses standing, where we succeeded in getting 
getting something to eat. I rode up to a lady's house 
and she told me that she could give me something 
to eat but had no feed for our horses and then she 
started in to frying ham and eggs, and I do not think 
that before or since in my life I have ever smelt any- 
thing as good as the ham and eggs did cooking. 
When we reached Johnson County, we learned that 
there were four hundred Federals at Chapel Hill. In 
passing a farmhouse, wc saw two horses belonging 
to Federals officers. Two of the boys unhitched the 
horses, and left the officers unmolested. We started 
to go into the timber and when we were within about 
half a mile of it, the horses of Dave Hilton, George 
Wigginton, Nathan Carr and myself stopped and 
refused to go another step. They were too weak and 
poor to travel farther. Some of the boys road for- 
ward and told Quantrell and he came back and said 
it would not do to leave us there afoot. We took the 



100 Three Years With Quantrel! 

saddles off of our horses and, leaving them on the 
prairie, we carried our saddles and blankets into the 
woods where we stayed all night. We stayed in the 
woods three or four days, Colonel Quantrell having 
left us and, at night we started out to find us some- 
thing to eat and, after traveling for some time in the 
dark, we came to a house and I left the boys in the 
road and went to the door. After knocking several 
times, a lady raised the window and asked who was 
there. I asked how far it was to Chapel Hill and who 
lived there. She told me and I knew her husband. He 
came to the door and recognizing me, said he would 
look for something for us to eat, but he was afraid 
to strike a light. He soon returned with half of a boil- 
ed ham, a big loaf of home-made light-bread and a 
jar of buttermilk and in a very few minutes we had 
finished our lunch. He then gave us a large piece of 
dried beef each, telling us that that Vv^ould keep u.s 
from starving. We would go to sleep walking along 
the road and, coming into a piece of timber, suppos- 
ing ourselves well into the woods, we dropped down 
and went to sleep and did not wake up until 8 o'clock 
the next morning, when we found that we were wit^.- 
in twenty or thirty feet of a public road. We then 
came out on the prairie and saw some houses we rec- 
ognized and went to the house of the Widow Hill, 
the mother of Wood and Tuck Hill. We approached 
the house from the rear and Mrs. Hill came out on 
the porch and ran to us and told us to get away quick, 
that there were three hundred Federal soldiers camp- 
ed in her pasture ; there were five or six in her house 
at that time. We then went down the road leading 



Three Years With Quantrell loi 

to the Sni. By this time our supply of dried beef was 
exhausted and we stopped at a house on the edge of 
the timber and got something to eat and learned 
where some of the other boys were. The next morn- 
ing, we went to Joe Hook's. Three of us were bare- 
footed. At Mr. Hook's house, there were three young 
ladies, his two daughters and a Miss Wayman. Miss 
W^ayman laughingly asked us what size boots we 
wore and told us to come back there the next night. 
We left and went from there to Dick Kinney's and 
found that he was also hiding in the woods. We 
stayed with Dick in the woods that night and the 
next night returned to Joe Hook's, where the young 
ladies presented us with a nice pair of boots and 
yarn socks each. They had been to Lexington that 
day and bought them. Being again among friends, 
we stayed in this neighborhood for ten or twelve 
days, always using the same bedroom at night — the 
woods. George Wigginton, Dave Hilton, George 
Langdon and I went down into Lafayette County 
and on down to Harlan on the Missouri River, where 
Hilton's mother, two sisters and little brother lived, 
her house having been burned in Jackson County, 
and she having been ordered to leave there by the 
militia. Dave remained with his mother and sisters 
and the rest of us went to John Wigginton's, near 
Waverly, his house also having been burned in 
Fackson County and he left under Order No ii. 
About this time George Langdon decided to go 
home, which was north of Rocheport in Boone 
County. We helped him secure a skiff and saw him 
start down the Missouri River. T afterwards saw 



102 Three Years With Quantrell 

him at his home after the fight at Centralia. George 
and I stayed at his father's, or rather, in the woods 
near there until the leaves were out again, and I 
went up to Joe Chrisman's, and he loaned me a 
good horse and bridle. George found him a horse 
and then we went on into Jackson County to find the 
boys. We were both riding bareback when we met 
Bill Yowell and he told us where we could find two 
good saddles hid in the woods. We found the sad- 
dles and we were ready for business again. Riding 
through Jackson County one night between the Sni 
and Tabo Creek, we rode right into a company of 
Federals who were asleep. We put spurs to our 
horses and dashed through. They opened fire on us 
and we could hear them firing after we were a mile 
away. We stayed around in Jackson County for 
several weeks, when we learned that Dave Poole 
was up on Tabo with about forty men. We joined 
them and then Dave decided to make another visit 
to his Dutch friends near Concordia, A short time 
before this some of the boys had captured a Federal 
flag, which we took with us, having a man to ride 
at our head, carrying it. When we had gotten with- 
in a quarter of a mile of the store, one of the militia 
saw us and recognizing Poole started to give the 
alarm. Some of our boys captured him and hung 
him to a stake on a rail fence. Poole rode up in 
front of the store and the old Dutchman, who owned 
the store, came out and seeing the Federal flag and 
taking us for Federal soldiers, exclaimed, "Oh, py 
golly, we sendt a company and now it is come al- 
ready yet. Now, we get that tamned Davy Poole; 



Three Years With Quantrell 103 

he's up on Tabo mit one leg broke. We take the 
company and go up in that Tabo brush and get him. 
He is vun tamned bad man ; he come down here vun 
morning before breakfast und kicked me right be- 
fore mine face and tell me my wife is vun bad 
woman." Dave Poole looked at him a minute and 
said, "Damn your Dutch soul, I'm Dave Poole that 
you're going after. Now, where's your money?" 
The old Dutchman threw up both hands, exclaiming, 
"I am vun of the bestest men you ever saw. I never 
done noddings wrong in all my life yet; I don't got 
3ome money." Poole replied, "Yes, you have, and 
get it quick. The fellow out here in the road told 
me you had money." "Who told you I had some 
money?" the Dutchman asked. Dave said, "Come 
out here and I'll show you," and, leading the Dutch- 
man out in the road to where the man was tied to the 
fence-stake, he said, "That's the fellow that told me 
you had the money." The old Dutchman began to 
throw his hands around, exclaiming, "Oh, mine Gott, 
Mr. Poolie, my money's upstairs in my black britches 
pocket in a little rag tied up." While Poole was 
having fun with this Dutchman, the rest of the 
militia had gotten to the block house. We went 
back upon the Sni and about sixty of us met at an 
appointed place on the Sni, Captain George Todd 
being in command. Colonel Quantrell, soon after 
we had returned from the South, had taken with him 
Jim Little, John Barker, Tom Harris. Dave Hilton 
and Tom Evans, and, crossing the Missouri River 
at Arrow Rock, in Saline Countv, went into Howard 



2 04 Three Years With Quantrell 

County, where he remained all summer until after 
Price's raid. 

At this time there was stationed in Indepen- 
dence the Colorado troops, a regiment of Federal 
cavalry, who had made repeated threats that if ever 
they met us, they would exterminate our whole com- 
mand. Captain Todd ordered us to go to a point on 
the Independence and Harrisonville road, where we 
cut the telegraph wires, taking several feet of it into 
the woods, knowing that this would bring the Fed- 
erals out to hunt us. We went into the woods oppo- 
site the Widow Moore's place. In front of this place, 
and just across the road from where we were, there 
was an open field. W^e stationed pickets on the road 
and having waited until 2 o'cl ..:k, Captain Todd and 
Lee McMurty crossed the road, going up to Mrs. 
Moore's house and hitching their horses to the yard 
fence. Shortly after they had entered Mrs. Moore's 
house our pickets came in and told us that there were 
about twenty Federals coming and we supposed 
that this was all there were of them. As soon as 
they saw the two horses hitched to the fence, they 
started in a gallop. Todd and Mcj\Iurty ran out, 
springing on their horses and started down the field, 
the Federals following them in the road. Lieuten- 
ant Dick Yeager ordered us to charge. We gained 
on the Federals and they left the road and went into 
the brush. Yeager then commanded us to dismount 
and follow them. Just as we had dismounted, we 
heard someone give the command, "Charge," and, 
looking back, we saw the rest of the Colorado com- 
pany coming after us in a run. Yeager immediately 



Three Years With Quantrell io$ 

commanded us to remount, about face and charge 
them. We rushed at them and threw them, wheeling 
our horses, we charged them again and in that open 
field this was repeated seven times, both commands 
wheeling and charging. This lasted until the Feder- 
als were out of ammunition and, to their credit it can 
be said that they were the bravest soldiers we had 
encountered. They had fought fearlessly and desper- 
ately till they had emptied their last pistol, but they 
shot too low, only wounding one of our men, but 
killing seven horses for us and wounding six of sev- 
en more. We killed thirty-seven of them and capt- 
ured three of their horses. After the Federals had 
retreated one of the boys remarked to me, "John look 
at 3'our hat," and taking my hat off I discovered a 
bullet hole through it and I also discovered two bul- 
let holes through my coat under my left arm and 
one in front of my saddle. The only man we had 
wounded v/as Ike Flannery. He was shot under the 
right shoulder-blade, the ball passing through his 
body and tearing away his left nipple. Not having 
any physician with us, some of the boys took charge 
of him, keeping his wound well bathed with cold wa- 
ter and in thirteen days he had recovered and was 
ready to go with us again. We took a number of 
the pistols that the enemy were using which were a 
very large caliber pistol, known as the French Dra- 
goon pistol and we then discovered why they had 
not killed more of us. These pistols were very heavy 
at the muzzle and would undershoot and none of our 
best marksmen could shoot them with any accuracy. 



io6 Three Years With Quantrell 

CHAPTER XIII. 

In two weeks, we left our camp in Jackson Coun- 
ty and rode to Arrow Rock in Saline County. There 
was a company of Federals stationed at Arrow 
Rock and as soon as they saw us approaching, they 
hastily departed from the town, going up the Mis- 
souri River. They fired back at us several times, 
wounding Dick Yeager. We secured a conveyance 
and took him up near Frankfort and kept him in the 
woods near the home of Ike Flannery's father, who 
was a refugee from Jackson County, and in about 
two weeks afterwards a company of Federal soldiers 
came down from Marshall and killed him. AVe re- 
turned to Jackson County from Arrow Rock and 
again went into hiding on the Sni and the Blue. At 
this time there were no people living on the farms 
m Jackson County, but near the towns there were a 
few Union men still on the farms. We found provis- 
ions hid in the woods that our friends had placed 
there for us. One night Captain Todd, Lee McMur- 
try, Bill Hulse, Allen Palmer, Payne Jones and I 
lode across to the East Blue and when we had reach- 
ed the farm of an old man by the name of Shepherd, 
the Federals fired on us from ambush but the only 
damage they did was to shoot Lee McMurtry's horse 
through the nose. We returned the fire, but, on ac- 
count of the darkness could not tell with what efifect. 
We started to run when McMurtry's horse refused 
to follow us, but was plunging, snorting and blow- 
ing the blood from its nostrils. Lee yelled out, 
"Hold on, boys, my horse is shot." Some of us caught 




MARY ANN WIGGINTON. 



Three Years With Quantrell loj 

his bridle rein and, riding around, we went back ta 
where the remainder of the boys were. 

On the 23rd day of August, 1864, John Mead, 
who was a new recruit, started with me to my uncle, 
John VVigginton's, to secure pistol caps that my 
cousin Mollie Wigginton had brought from Illinois. 

Her brother, Will Wigginton, had been with 
General Price in the South and had been captured 
and placed in prison at Alton, Illinois. He and thir- 
teen others had escaped from the prison by digging 
under the foundation with table knives. They would 
lie on their backs and dig, putting the dirt in their 
pockets and afterwards scattering it. Will worked 
in this position so long that he wore all the hair from 
the back of his head. They finally succeeded in escap- 
ing from Alton, being assisted by a guard. Will re- 
mained in the state of Illinois and wrote to his sis- 
ter, Mollie, that he could furnish us with all the arms 
we might want. Mollie communicated this fact to 
me and I told her it was no trouble for us to se- 
cure all the arms we wanted from the Federals, but 
we did have trouble in getting pistol caps. Mollie 
immediately told her friends she had decided to' 
make a visit to Illinois and was several days busily 
engaged in packing her trunk, in which she had a 
false bottom made. Leaving for Illinois and, taking 
her trunk with her, she visited Will and other rela- 
tives for about a week and when she returned to Mis- 
souri, there v^rere 35,000 pistol caps between the two 
bottoms of her trunk. Uncle John, at this time, as 
had been said, was living in Lafayette County, Mis- 
souri. When Mead-^and I approached his house, we 



Jo8 Three Years With Quantrell 

saw a command of Federal soldiers approaching and 
they had seen us. We wheeled our horses and started 
back through a hemp field, the Federals pursuing us. 
When we reached a ravine in the hemp-field, I told 
Mead to ride on and throw the riders off of the fence 
and I would stay and fire at the Federals and check 
them. After firing five or six shots, I dashed up to 
where IMead w^as and found him sitting on his horse 
trembling and never having touched the fence. I 
threw the rider off of the fence which my mare jump- 
ed and we then turned into the brush, when I 
stopped my horse and Mead began to yell t o me, 
"Come on, for God's sake!" to which I replied, "In 
this kind of brush I am not afraid of the whole Fed- 
eral army." The Federals then left us and returned 
to Uncle John's house and, calling him out, told him 
that they had been sent from Sedalia to kill him, 
knowing that he had a son with Quantrell and had 
been feeding and harboring the bushwhackers. They 
seized him and started out of the house with him. 
His aged wife and his daughter clung to him until 
they had reached the yard when the soldiers rough- 
ly jerked them back and riddled him with bullets, 
utterly ignoring the cries and pleas of the two wo- 
men. This was another relative of mine whose foul 
murder I was called upon to revenge. 

In three or four days, George W^igginton and 
I visited his mother and sister and, as we started to 
leave, we secured a number of the caps and, riding 
dovv^i into the hem]) field, we found six negroes cut- 
ting hemp and, dismounting from my horse, I told 
one of the negroes to give me the cradle and let me 



Three Years With Quantrell log 

show him how to cut hemp. Suddenly the two ne- 
groes looked up and said to me, "Young master, is 
dem some of your men coming yonder?'' and I saw 
a company of Federals pursuing us. Not having any 
desire to longer cut hemp, I mounted my horse and 
we dashed through the field into the woods, the Fed- 
erals firing at us, and Wigginton and I joined the 
other boys. In the latter part of August, 1864, sixty- 
eight of us went to a point between Independence 
and Wellington, and, crossing the Missouri River, 
the men going in skiffs and leading our horses, we 
entered Clay County. Going through Ray County 
and down through Carroll County on to Keytesville, 
Ihe county seat of Chariton County. From Keytes- 
ville, we went south, crossing the east fork of the 
Chariton at Switzler's Mill into Howard County and 
going between the towns of Glasgow and Roanoke, 
we came to the Wilcoxson place, west of. Fayette. 
During this entire march, we had traveled only at 
night. Procuring our breakfast at the Wilcoxson 
place, we went on into Boone County and, when 
about six miles from the town of Rocheport, on the 
Rocheport and Sturgeon road, at a point known as 
Goslin's Lane, we saw a train of about sixteen 
wao:ons with fifteen Federals in front and about six- 
ty in the rear going in the direction of Rocheport. 
We dropped out of sight under a hill and, when 
about half of them had passed Gosline's house, we 
dashed on them and they divided, fleeing in utter 
confusion, going towards Fayette, Sturgeon, Roche- 
port and Columbia. I followed for quite a distance 
those going north and, being unable to capture any 



110 Three Years With Quantrell ' '' 

more of them, I returned to the wagon train, which 
was being burned. As I rode up to the wagon train, 
Dave Poole called to me, saying, "John, I just killed 
the damnedest longest yellow nigger I ever saw; he 
looks to me like he's nine feet long. Come and look 
at him." [ went with him and saw lying near a wag- 
on a negro with a blue uniform on and I agreed with 
E>ave that he was the tallest man I had ever seen. In 
fchis little skirmish we killed twenty-five of the Fed- 
erals without the loss of a single man. 

We then turned back west into Howard County 
and, at the John R. White farm, between Franklin 
and Rocheport, we were joined by Captain Ander- 
son and, in a few days, Captain Tom Todd and forty 
men, and Captain Thrailkill with sixteen men, join- 
ed us. And then to our delight, Colonel Quantrell, 
with his friends who had been with him in this coun- 
ty, came to us. The officers then held a consultation 
in regard to attacking Fayette. All were in favor of 
ft except Quantrell, with whom Colonel Cale Per- 
kins sided. He told the other officers there. was no 
use in attacking men in brick houses and log cabins 
with only side arms; that if we did, we would only 
succeed in getting some of our men killed and 
wounded and we well knew that if any of our wound- 
ed boys fell into the hands of the Federals they 
would be murdered and insisted that we let Fayette 
alone and the facts afterwards demonstrated that 
Quantrell was right, but the majority of the officers 
being against him, on the 24th of September, we 
started for Fayette. Here was a command of Feder- 
als under Colonel Reeves Leonard, who were fortifi- 



Three Years With Quantrell in 

ed in the courthouse and the college building and on 
a hill southwest of the college. They had fortifica- 
tions built of logs. When we reached the creek south- 
east of town, we halted and John B. Dickerson, who 
now lives in the town of Fayette, and for a number 
of years has been City Marshal, was asked to take 
the lead and pilot us through the town, but John de- 
murred, saying that his father and mother were liv- 
ing in Fayette and that the Federals would burn 
their home and murder his father and he recom- 
mended that Captain Tom Todd, who was also well 
acquainted with the town, take the lead. Captain 
Todd, taking the lead, the command, "Forward, 
march" was given and we dashed into the town up 
the street leading from the graveyard to the court- 
house square and when we reached the corner of the 
square, we turned west one block, then turned south 
a block, then back again, all of us riding at the top of 
our speed and were passing down a side street when 
the Federals from the court house poured a perfect 
volley into us. On of these bullets struck Lee Mc- 
Murtry under the left eye, giving him a severe flesh 
wound, blinding him for the time being and he fell 
from his horse. I caught his horse, led it back to him 
and, assisting him to mount, I led his horse down a 
side street to a pasture near where the Fayette High 
School is now situated. The remainder of our com- 
mand went on up the street leading toward the town 
of Glasgow where the Federals had log fortifica- 
tions. When I reached the pasture I there found 
Colonel Quantrell with Jim Little, who had received 
a bad wound in the right arm. I left Mc]\Iurtry with 



112 Three Years With Quantrell 

Quantrell and started up north for the town where 
1 could hear a great deal of firing. Quantrell called 
to me and asked me where I was going, to which I 
leplied, "To help the boys.'' He said, "Come on back, 
there's no use trying to shoot through brick walls 
and logs with pistols." I then turned ni}' horse and 
rode back to where he was. In a few moments the 
rest of the command came back, having failed to dis- 
lodge the Federals and only killing four of them. 
We had five men killed and several severely wound- 
ed. One of our best men, 01 Johnson was shot 
through the hips. We placed him on a pillow on a 
saddle and led his horse six or eight miles from Fay- 
ette in the neighborhood of Washington Church and 
placed him in the woods near the farm of Jeff Payne 
and Mr. Payne's two daughters. Miss Pollie, now 
the widow of A. J. Kirby, a Confederate soldier and 
her sister. Miss Letitia, now the widow of Robert 
Baskett, carried him food and water and that splen- 
did Southern gentleman, the late Dr. W. C. Harvey, 
of Roanoke, at the risk of his own life, visited him 
dail3\ 01 only lived five days and, just before he di- 
ed, the doctor having told him that there was no 
hope for him, he wrote a long letter to his mother, 
who was at that time living in Jackson County, and 
Dr. Harvey sent it to her. 

Quantrell left us at Fayette, going back into 
Boon's Lick Township and taking Jim Little with 
him. The rest of us w^ent up towards Roanoke, some 
of us passing through the town, and that night we 
camped on Silver Creek near Mt. Airy. 

The next day we passed within a few miles of 




CAPTAIN BILL ANDERSON. 



Three Years With Quantrell iij 

Huntsville where there was a company of Federals. 
Captain Anderson wanted to go in and attack them, 
but Captain Todd, who was in command, refused, 
saying he had enough experience in trying to shoot 
through brick walls with pistols. That night we 
camped near Renick and the next day we went into 
the woods southeast of Centralia in Boone County. 

Captain Anderson wanted us to go into the 
town of Centralia. but Todd refused to do it, so An- 
derson took his own company, leaving us in the 
woods and went into the town. While he was there 
a passenger train came in on the North Missouri 
Railroad, which is now the Wabash, with a number 
of Federal soldiers aboard. Anderson had all the pas- 
sengers and soldiers get out on the platform and, 
separating the soldiers from the other passengers, 
he and his men shot and killed all the Federal sol- 
diers. He then commanded the engineer to start his 
train, having set fire to the coaches. The old engi- 
neer, James Clark, who died a few years ago at Mo- 
berly, Missouri, v/hen he started his engine, opened 
a valve, so that the water would soon run out of the 
boiler and the burning train soon stopped after only 
running a few miles. Captain Todd nor none of our 
command were with Anderson at the time and knew 
nothing of the killing of the soldiers until Anderson 
returned to our camp and told us, when Captain 
Todd severely reprimanded Anderson for doing it, 
telling him that he did not indorse such actions. 

In the afternoon, our pickets came in and report- 
ed that there was a command of Federals coming 
with a black flaq- hoisted. Captain Todd ordered 



J 14 Three Years With Quantrell 

Dave Poole to go and see who they were. He return- 
ed and reported that there were between two and 
three hundred of them. Todd then commanded us to 
form in line, telling us that he would ride ahead of 
us and for us to remain standing until he signaled 
us to come forward. He took three men with him, 
leaving us behind the brow of the hill out of sight 
and when the Federals had gotten to the foot of the 
hill, he raised his hat and we loped to him. 

Major Johnson was in command of the Federals 
and, while in Centralia, he was bragging how he was 
going to extinguish our entire command, showing 
his black flag and saying that he would take no 
prisoners, but would kill us all. The citizens begged 
him not to go, but he only laughed and told them 
that it would be no more to him than a breakfast par- 
ty and when he was starting a lady came out to his 
horse and, taking hold of his bridle rein, asked him 
not to go, telling him that George Todd and Bill 
Anderson were both there. He told her to stand aside, 
that he would kill us all and for her to watch for him 
when he returned, that he would have Todd's and 
Anderson's heads tied to a pole. 

When we reached Captain Todd after he had 
signalled to us he commanded us to dismount and 
tighten our girths. When we dismounted, the Fed- 
erals yelled, "They are dismounting; they are going 
to fight us afoot." Johnson then gave the command 
for his men to dismount and every fourth man to 
hold horses. We stood by our horses until their 
horses had been led away, when Captain Todd said, 
■'Remount. Charge and kill them." We sprang into 



Three Years With Quantrell n^ 

our saddles and started after them, each one of us 
trying to get there first. They fired one volley and 
then, becoming utterly demoralized, stampeded in 
all directions, some of them running for their horses 
and some of them starting for Centralia afoot. We 
followed them into the town of Centralia, which was 
about three miles away, dealing death at every jump. 
Some of them went through the town of Centralia 
and Frank James, Bill Hulse, Pink Gibson, Lee ■\Ic- 
Murtry, three others whose names I have forgotten 
and myself followed them to the edge of the town 
of Sturgeon, when we saw the Federal infantry sta 
tioned there forming into line to come out to meet 
us. Frank James then said, "Hold on, boys, we've 
killed enough of them; let's go back." When we 
turned to start back, I found my mare could not go 
out of a walk, I having run her for nearly eleven 
miles. Frank James said "That's all right, John; 
we'll not leave you and, if necessary we'll take you 
behind one of us." Pink Gibson, whose horse was 
comparatively fresh, galloped ahead of us and told 
Captain Todd, who sent me another horse. 

There were 206 men in Major Johnson's command 
when we met them, and there were fourteen of them 
escaped, 2 of the latter number were badly wounded. 
We had one man killed, Frank Shepherd, who was 
shot in the head when they first fired. He was riding 
between Frank James and I when he was shot and 
the blood from his wound spurted on Frank's boot. 
Dick Kinney was shot through the knee and after- 
wards died from his wound. 

When we had gotten back to our camp we only 



ii6 Three Years With Quantrell 

stayed a short time, going in a southeast direction to- 
Big Cedar Creek in Boone County. We rode seven or 
eight miles and scattered, trying to find something 
to eat. We then secured a pilot, who said he knew the 
country well and could take us out of it. W^e tiu-ned 
west and crossed a big creek. It was dark as pitch 
and raining torrents and our pilot became lost. Cap- 
tain Todd then commanded us to dismount and ev- 
ery man get under a tree and stay until daylight. 
When daylight came we went up to a cornfield and 
were getting corn to feed our horses, and hearing' 
someone on the other side of the field, we sent a man 
to find out who it was and he returned and told us 
that it was General Guitar with his entire command 
of Federals getting corn for their horses. Captain 
Todd then said, "Boys, this country's full of Feder- 
als and they are all after us and we'll have to disband 
and scatter." He told me to get my sqtiad together 
and start. I said, "Captain, I know nothing about 
this country and I do not know a man in it." He re- 
plied, "You know as much about it as I do, and you 
have never been any place yet that you've failed to 
get out of, so take your men and go ahead." 1 called 
mv men too'ether and rode throu^-h the woods all 
day and, just at sun-down, I rode up to a house and 
asked if we could get something to eat and feed for 
our horses. He told. us that we could but we would 
have to wait until supper was cooked. He started to 
the barn with us, and looking back, asked, ''Are they 
some of your men coming too?" I told him I thought 
"lot, that thev were Federals probably. He then told 
us to ride throusfh his vard and into a field and thev 



Three Years With Quantrell jiy 

could not see us. Crossing a field, we came out into a 
narrow lane and I saw two men in the road. I called 
to them to halt, which they did and I asked who 
they were and they told me citizens and one of them 
very promptly said, "We don't know who you are, 
but we are both Southern men." I then asked them 
where they lived and they told me about half a mile 
from where we were and invited us to go home and 
take supper with them. After supper one of the men 
and two of my men went over to where the Federals 
had run us from and came back and reported that 
there was a company of Federals camped in the 
yard. We stayed in the woods that night and, leav- 
ing early the next morning, we rode until late in the 
afternoon when we came to Goslin's Lane where we 
had had the fight shortly before. This was the first 
place I recognized. We rode up to a house and found 
two ladies at home. One of them asked me if we were 
in the fight that had taken place there shortly before. 
I told her "Yes." She then asked me if any of us had 
lost part of a pistol in that fight. Jim Younger told 
her that he had lost the cylinder of his pistol and the 
lady remarked, "Well, we found some part of a pistol 
out there in the road ; I don't know what you call it, 
but here it is,'" and it was the cylinder of Jim Young- 
er's pistol that he had lost in the road pursuing some 
of the Federals. 

The next morning we met one of Captain Ander- 
son's men, John Holt, and we. stayed with him that 
day and that night we went up to near Boonesboro 
in Howard County and found Colonel Quantrell and 
several of the other boys. 



ji8 Three Years With Quantrell 

While we had been with Todd, Colonel Quantrell 
had remained near Boonesboro and while there a 
Captain Kimsey came to him with seven or eight 
men, claiming to be Southern soldiers and told it 
around the country that he had joined our command. 
He would go to citizens in this neighborhood, there 
being quite a number here who wei*e refugees from 
Jackson County, and would tell them that Quantrell 
was waiting for Captain Todd's return with the men 
and had told him to secure money and horses from 
Southern friends. Captain Kimsey became very in- 
sulting in his demands for money and horses and 
some of the citizens went to Colonel Quantrell and 
complained of Kimsey's manner. He was utterly 
surprised, telling his friends that he had never au- 
thorized Kimsey nor anyone else to get money or 
horses from Southern citizens and that he would in- 
vestigate it. He immediately mounted his horse and, 
taking several of the boys with him, he found Kim- 
sey and told him he wanted to see him about robbing 
Southern people and telling that he had instructed 
him to do it and to consider himself under arrest and 
to turn over his revolver. Kimsey drew his revolver, 
telling Quantrell he had no authority to arrest him 
and attempted to shoot, but was too slow, Quantrell 
killing him. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

After staying in this neighborhood for a few days, 
Quantrell told us that Jim Little was not well 
enottgh to leave and for us to go on to a place near 



,-' J 



Three Years With Quant rell ijg 

Rocheport, where it had been prearranged we should 
meet, and to tell Captain Todd to take command and 
for us to ask to go south and spend the winter. When 
we met Captain Todd at the appointed place, there 
were with him Captain Anderson, Captain Thrail- 
kill and Captain Tom Todd, having in all about 240 
men, and Captain George Todd assumed command. 
We then went to the Missouri River, and, having se- 
cured skiffs, we began to cross the river. We would 
get into the skiffs, take a horse that was used to 
swimming by the bridle and then tying a horse to 
the tail of a horse ahead of him, start across the river, 
making the horses swim behind us and in this man- 
ner I crossed sixty horses at one time. We rested our 
horses'a while, drying them the best we could and 
started on south through Cooper County. After go- 
ing about two miles from the river, we saw two 
horses hitched in front of a house. George Shepherd 
and I asked permission of Captain Todd to go and 
see who they belonged to. He consented, but told us 
to be very careful as the county was full of Dutch 
militia. When we got to the horses, we saw they had 
fine new saddles and bridles and blue overcoats tied 
behind each saddle. W^e went into the house and an 
old Dutchman and his wife met us. We asked them 
who was in the house and they would talk nothing 
but Dutch. Both of them were wearing wooden 
shoes. W^e then left, untying the two horses and tak- 
ing them with us and, after riding a short distance 
in the road, we saw a dead militiaman lying in the 
road. Shepherd remarked, "Hell's to pay, John, we'd 
better ride fast." and every few yards, we would find 



i20 Three Years With Quantrell 

a dead militiaman lying by the side of the road. In 
about three miles, we soon discovered that our com- 
mand had left the road and had turned into a corn- 
field. Just after making the turn around the cornfield 
we met a man in citizen's clothes and, taking him 
with us, we went on until we found our men in camp 
and our prisoner turned out to be a Southern man 
who was going South to join Price. The boys told us 
that while Shepherd and I were after the two horses 
they had suddenly met a company of militia, who 
immediately wheeled and fled, our boys following 
them and had killed over half of them. 

The next morning we went on to Sedalia in Pettis 
County, and then to Sweet Springs, Saline County. 
When we entered Sweet Springs we scattered to get 
our breakfasts. I rode up to a house and asked a lady 
if I could get something for my horse and myself to 
eat. She told me the barn had plenty of feed in it 
and she would prepare me some breakfast. Just then 
Dave Poole rode up, remarking he was hungry too. 
She invited us both in and told us to wait a minute. 
She then asked us if we ever indulged in anything 
stronger than water to drink. We told her we did. 
She then took us into the dining room, seated us at 
the table and procured a quart bottle of whisky, and 
told us to fix a toddy to suit ourselves. We ate a 
hearty breakfast and as we were leaving, she insisted 
on my taking a bottle of whisky, remarking that her 
husband was with Price and she wouldhave another 
bottle for him when he returned home. I took the 
bottle and put it in my pocket and Dave remarked 
that he had been detailed to ride in front and would 



Three Years With Quantrell 121 

insist on my riding with him, especially as long as 
the whisky lasted. 

When we started from Sweet Springs, it was de- 
cided that we should go up into the Dutch settlement 
near Concordia, David Poole being very anxious to 
again meet his old friends. Just before reaching the 
town of Concordia, we came to a place in the road, ta 
the right of which was a field of corn in the shock 
and on the left a very dense brush thicket. Just as 
our advance guard, consisting of twenty men, under 
command of Dave Poole, and who were at least a 
mile ahead of the rest of the command, got opposite 
the brush, we were fired on from the brush, but none 
of us were hit. Poole told the boys to scatter around 
the thicket as well as they could and me to go back 
and tell Captain Todd to come on, that the Dutch 
were in the thicket. I dashed back, informed Captain 
Todd' he came up on the double quick, ordering the 
men to surround the thicket and for some of them ta 
go in and run them out. What occurred afterwards 
reminded me of a rabbit hunt in the country. The 
boys started in the brush and every few minutes out 
would run a Dutchman and the boys on the outside 
would start after him. Not one of them escaped. Our 
advance guard then started on towards Concordia, 
when we discovered over two hundred Dutch com- 
incr toward us. The rest of the command hurriedly 
came and formed in line just over the brow of the 
ridsre and, as the Dutch militia came over the hill, 
Todd ordered us to charge and kill them. We made 
a dash toward them and they made a dash to gtt 
awav. We ran them into a lane, some of them left 



i22 Three Years With Quantrell 

their horses and, running over into a corn field, they 
would hide in the shocks, where our boys would soon 
find them and get them out. There were very few of 
this company that ever reached home alive. 

We went on up into the western portion of Lafay- 
ette County and the eastern portion of Jackson coun- 
ty. Here Captain Anderson and his company left us 
and came on down into Howard County. This was 
the last time I ever saw Bill Anderson and the next 
I heard of him he had been killed. We then scattered 
out. Captain Todd telling us to meet the gang at 
Bone Hill and wait until General Price had reached 
that part of the country when we all would join him. 

One night, while we were waiting, Captain Todd 
was with me and several of the other boys in the 
brush. We were all discussing Price's return into 
Missouri and what effect it would have, when Cap- 
lain Todd, who seemed that night more serious than 
usual, remarked, "Boys, when Price gets here, I will 
join him and, in the first battle I am in with him, I 
shall be killed and I want you boys to see that I have 
a decent burial." I remarked, "Well, Captain, if I 
thought I was going to be killed I would not go into 
the battle." He said, "Yes, I am going' and I want 
you boys to go with me. I know I'll be killed, but it 
is just as fitting for me to die for my country as any 
other man. All I ask is that you boys stay with me 
and see that I get a decent burial." 

In a few days Price had gotten near where we 
were and had been constantly engaged with the en- 
emy. I waited until the time set by Captain Todd to 
meet at Bone Hill and when I reached there, T found 



Three Years With Quantrell 123 

that he had left and had left word for me to go to 
Captain Hedgepeth's on the Six Mile Prairie and to 
wait until he came back. I waited until evening and 
then went into the woods and stayed. The next 
morning, with the men I had with me, which were 
about thirty, I started out to find Captain Todd, 
when I soon met Dan Vaughan. As soon as I saw 
Dan I knew there was something serious the matter 
and when he came up to me he said, "John, Captain 
Todd wants you. He was badly wounded yesterday 
near Blue Mills and told me to come and find you 
and for you to come to Independence and bring the 
boys with you, that he wanted to see you all before 
he died." We started for Independence, having taken 
a circuitous route to avoid the Federals and, within 
about three miles of th^ town, we met General Fag- 
an, going out to engage the Federals. He wanted us 
to stop and go with him, but I said, "General, the 
other boys may stay if they want to, but George 
Todd is wounded and thinks he's dying and has sent 
for me and I'm going to see him." I then hurried on 
towards Independence, and just as I entered the 
town I saw the boys coming out with Dave Poole in 
command. As soon as Dave saw me, he dropped his 
head and I knew it was all over. He rode up to me, 
and extending his hand, his eyes filled with tears, 
and he said, "John, our brave leader is gone. We are 
just returning from burying him. I am sorry you 
were not with him, for during the night he called for 
you frequently, and once in his delirium, he said, 
'Boys, we're in a tight place; where is John McCor- 
kle? If he was here he could get us out of this.'" The 



124 Three Years With Quantrell 

entire company then uncovered and, after a few 
minutes, I suggested that we elect another leader 
and proposed Dave Poole. He, at first, declined and 
suggested Henry Porter, but the boys insisted on 
his taking it and he remarked, "Well, if you boys in- 
sist, I will act, but I want it understood now that 
you bo3^s must obey orders.'' I then asked permission 
of Captain Poole to stay a day or two and visit some 
friends and six of us remained and Dave went on. 

I stayed in Independence about an hour, spending 
most of my time at the newly made grave of George 
Todd, whom I loved better than a brother, and start- 
-ed to the country to see if I could find any of my old 
friends, when I met Captain Beebe, one of General 
Price's officers, who, with his command, was formed 
in line of battle just sotitheast of Independence. He 
asked me to what command T belonged and when I 
told him, he said, ''Then you know this country. I 
want you to go out and see what the Federals are do- 
ing and report to me at once." It did not take us boys 
long to see that the Federals were coming in town 
and I reported to him that they were getting ready 
to attack Price's rear guard. He immediately took 
his command and left town. Just then, I noticed a 
man whom I took to be a Confederate officer riding- 
down a lane and, asking him who he was, he inform- 
ed me he was Colonel Elliott and was trying to lo- 
cate the Federals. I immediately informed the Col- 
onel that it was no trouble to locate the Federals as 
they were already in town and the best thing for him 
to do was to get out of that lane and to join me. He 
then asked me if I could "Tt him out of that and I 



Three Years With Quantrell 12$ 

told him I could but that wc would have to ride live- 
ly. We then took the road toward Harrisonvillc and 
found a squad of forty pickets that had never been 
relieved. Colonel Elliott told them to come with us 
and, going about three quarters of a mile, we saw 
some Federals advancing. We exchanged hre with 
them, they following us for about a mile and. as we 
crossed a ridge, I suggested to Colonel Elliott that 
we had better form in line and fire them a volley, 
which we did, checking them. I then rode ahead and, 
meeting an officer, I asked him where he belonged 
and he asked me what company was with me and 
] replied, "Most anybody's," "but wdio is your com- 
mander?" he replied. "I belong to Colonel Elliott's 
battalion." I then told him that Colonel Elliott was 
with us and that I was one of Ouantrell's men. He 
then turned to his men and exclaimed. "Boys, here's 
our Colonel. He is safe," and the entire command 
began to shout, for they thought their colonel was 
either dead or captured. When we reached Colonel 
Elliott's battalion, we found Dave Poole with them. 
We finished that day south of Westport, fighting 
with the Colorado troops, without the loss of any of 
■our men. 

We then went into camp and went to bed without 
any supper, our horses having feed and we nothing. 
The next morning for breakfast, we had a little raw 
beef and before we had time to even burn it over the 
coals, we were again ordered to the front. We were 
placed on a ridq-e with General Shelby to our left and 
with the understanding that General Marmaduke 
was to our ri-^-ht. About ten o'clock, still acting as 



126 Three Years With Quantrell 

courier and pilot, I rode out a little distance from 
our battalion and noticed a command moving tow- 
ard us. I immediately rode back and told Colonel 
Elliott and Captain Poole that the Federals were 
approaching us from the right. They said I was mis- 
taken, that it was General Marmaduke's command. 
I told them that Marmaduke's men did not wear blue 
clothes. Captain Poole then told me if I was so cer- 
tain that they were Federals to ride out and see. I 
started toward them; two men left their command 
and came to meet me. I asked them who they were 
and they said Union soldiers; they asked me what 
command I belonged to and I told them Elliott's 
battalion of the Confederate cavalry and they both 
shot at me. I wheeled my horse and dashed back and 
told Colonel Elliott and Poole that I was going to 
Gelieral Shelby, that maybe he could tell a Yankee 
from a Confederate. Shelby rode up and taking in 
the situation, ordered Colonel Elliott to hold his 
position until he saw Shelby coming with his com- 
mand. When we saw Shelby advancing we moved 
forward at the double quick, the Federals keeping 
pace with us and were about to cut us ofif when some 
of Price's infantry, who had hidden behind a rail 
fence, fired on them and checked them. In this ad- 
vance the Federals captured seven of Shelby's men 
and promptly shot them. We crossed Big Blue, dark 
having come on us, when we went into camp and 
just after dark, the courier from General Price came 
and handed Captain Poole a note, which was a re- 
quest from General Price that he take his men and 
leave the armv because the Union soldiers were 




MRS. LIZZIE GREGG. 



Three Years With Quantrell 127 

shooting- Shelby's men that they had taken prisoners 
on account of hearing that Ouantrell's men were 
with Shelby. Captain Poole sent work back to Gen- 
eral Price, telling him that we would leave imme- 
diately. He then gave command for us to mount and 
we left the army, passing in safety between two Fed- 
eral camps and riding on until we were in the edge 
of Johnson County and from there, we formed two 
camps, one on Tabo Creek and one on the Sni, where 
we made preparations to go south. 

While we were in camp on the Sni, Bill Gregg 
told me that he was going to marry a beautiful 
Southern girl. Miss Lizzie Hook, and take her south 
w^ith him and wanted me and some of the boys to go 
to the wedding with him. After dark, Gregg put on 
a new uniform and twelve of us put on our best and 
polished our pistols and spurs and accompanied him 
to the home of the bride. It was a strange scene, 
that wedding ceremony, a beautiful black-eyed, 
black-haired Southern girl, with her little hand 
placed on the arm of a stalwart soldier with four 
Navy revolvers buckled around his waist and with 
twelve long-haired, heavily-armed soldiers standing 
as witnesses and with only the members of the fam- 
ily beside the soldiers present, she plighted her 
young life to this grim warrior, fully realizing that 
at any moment she might be a widow, but this was 
only one example of the love of a Southern girl. We 
all stayed to a fine supper and we twelve, at a late 
liour, left the house and stood as guards for the 
bride and groom until we were called to breakfast 
the next mornino-. We then separated and went 



128 Three Years With Quantrell 

back on Tabo, some of us waiting until Quantrell 
could join us and the remainder of the boys, not 
wanting to wait for Quantrell, elected George Shep- 
herd commander and started South at once. I saw 
them leave, Bill Gregg, with his bride by him, start- 
ing with us. Gregg and his wife made the journey 
South with the boys and are both living today in 
Kansas City, Missouri. 

In a few days after Captain Shepherd and his 
men left. Colonel Quantrell returned and we started 
South. He told us that he intended to cross the Mis- 
souri River at Arrovv Rock, go across the State o£ 
Missouri into Illinois, then into Kentucky and thence 
into A'irginia, that we were all to wear Federal uni- 
forms and to pass ourselves as Union soldiers, and 
his name was to be Colonel Clark, in command of a 
Colorado regiment. When we reached the Missouri 
River we found it so full of ice that we could not 
cross. Quantrell left us there and returned to La- 
fayette County, and after waiting several days, we 
started back to Lafayette County to join Quantrell 
again. We reached a farm on a high mound in Sa- 
line County and asked the owner if there were any 
Federals around. He said none nearer than Mar- 
shall and, as from his house we could see the country 
in every direction for miles, we decided to stay there 
all day and about ten o'clock a big flock of wild 
geese settled among the corn shocks in front of the 
house. Tom Harris and I went down into the field 
and killed five geese with our revolvers and the lady 
cooked them for our supper. We then rode from there 
on and when near Grand Pass Lake, Jim Lilly and 



Three Years With Quantrell izg 

I killed a deer. We got down and cut its throat and 
quartered it, each man taking some and tying it to 
his saddle. I rolled the hide up and tied it to my sad- 
dle. When we reached the edge of Lafayette County 
and rode up to the house of Baltimore Thomas and 
when I called him out, I told him that 1 had come to 
bring him a piece of venison and presented him with 
the hind quarter and the hide. He said he would have 
the hide tanned and have us a pair of gloves made 
out of it. In 1865 I returned to Waverly on a visit 
and, meeting Mr. Thomas, he presented me with a 
very handsome pair of gloves that he had had made 
out of the hide. 

We joined Colonel Quantrell near Dover and 
started on south, going through Lafayette, Saline, 
Cooper, Moniteau and into Miller County, the weath- 
er being extremely cold. At Tuscumbia on the Osage 
River, there was stationed a company of militia and 
we, wearing Federal uniforms, all rode into the town 
and right up to their headquarters without being mo- 
lested. Quantrell asked for the commander and as 
he appeared, saluted him, telling him that we w^ere 
out on a scout and would like to have feed for our 
horses and as we were all very cold we would like to 
warm. The commander had a fire built in their head- 
quarters and invited us in. The Federals were stand- 
ing around the room and we circled between them 
and the fire and also got between them and their 
arms, which were stacked in the corner of the room 
and, when we heard Quantrell, who had remained 
on the outside with the commander, tell him to sur- 
render, we drew our revolvers and told the Federals 



ISO Three Years With Quantrell 

that they were mistakn in their men, that we were 
Confederate soldiers and they were under arrest. 
They all promptly obeyed, except one man, who at- 
tempted to get out of a window, when Frank James 
gently tapped him on the head with his pistol and 
told him to get back in line or he might be seriously 
hurt. We marched the militia out into the street and, 
placing a guard over them, the rest of us proceeded 
to take their guns, break the stocks off of them and 
throw them into the river. Seeing us do this, one of 
the militiamen exclaimed, ''Why, what in the world 
are they throwing our guns into the river for; we are 
Union men as well as they are?" to which his com- 
mander replied, ''Why, you damned fool, they are 
Southern men and we are all prisoners." They had 
just received a new supply of blankets and clothing 
to which we helped ourselves. There was a ferry on 
the Osage River, consisting of an old flat-boat and 
an old over-head rope pulley. We compelled some of 
them to ferry us and our horses over the river and 
just before the last load crossed, Colonel Quantrell 
administered an oath to the soldiers that they would 
never again take up arms against the Southern Con- 
federacy and told them to go and when he had cross- 
ed, we cut holes in the bottom of the boat and it 
sunk. We never fired a shot nor hurt a man. 

We took two of these militia along with us to 
act as pilots and kept them for three days, when they 
informed us that they had reached a country with 
which they were unfamiliar and that it would be no 
use for th'='*-^ 'n continue further with us, when we 



I- Three Years With Quantrell iji 

paroled them, instructing them not to report to any 
command for two days. 

We then proceeded southeast until we reached 
the Current River, which we followed into Arkan- 
sas. After we had gotten into the state of Arkansas, 
Joe Hall was taken with the small pox, and leaving 
Ike Hall, his brother, with him as a nurse, we left 
them near the town of Pocahontas, Arkansas. We 
then crossed the Black River and started through 
the swamps to Crawley's Ridge. We stopped about 
halfway through the swamps at a large house built 
of cypress logs and on this place, there was also a 
very large smokehouse and barn. A lady came to the 
door and told the Colonel that they had nothing to 
cat whatever. I was very doubtful as to the veracity 
of this statement and, being rather hungry, I went 
behind the smokehouse and removed a board and 
discovered that it was nearly full of flour and bacon. 
I told the Colonel that the lady was evidently mis- 
taken and he demanded the keys, telling her that she 
had probably forgotten what her smoke-house con- 
tained and we helped ourselves to a sack of flour and 
some bacon. We camped in the barn lot and about 
nine o'clock that night, I discovered a fire in the 
woods and calling the Colonel's attention to it, he 
detailed me to take three of the boys with me and 
investigate. Entering the woods, we discovered that 
it was a light from a lamp in a house. I told the boys 
to watch and I would go to the house, but not to fire 
a shot unless they were forced to. Riding up to the 
door, I called, which created quite a commotion in 
the house and two men ran out of the back door into 



IJ2 Three Years With Quantrel! 

the woods. An old gentleman came to the door, ask- 
ing who was there. I told him "a friend" and to come 
on out. I told him that we were Southern men and 
asked him who the men were that ran out of the 
back door. He said they were his two boys, who were 
at home on a furlough from the Southern army. I 
told him to call them back. He whistled a few times 
and the two boys came in. I then asked about the 
man that lived where we were camped. They told me 
he was a captain of what was called the Mountain 
Boomers, who did no fighting, but robbed and plun- 
dered both sides. I took the two boys back to camp 
with us, keeping out of sight of the people at the 
house, and they imparted to Colonel Ouantrell some 
very valuable information, especially about the gen- 
tleman who lived in the big house, telling us that 
the great quantity of provisions that he had stored 
in his smoke-house had been stolen from the citizens 
in that part of the country. 

When we left the next morning, we helped our- 
selves to the gentleman's provisions, knowing that 
he had stolen them. We went on until we had reach- 
ed Crawley's Ridge, riding down the ridge until we 
came to the plantation of Colonel Morrison. Here 
Jesse James, John Koger, Ben Morrow, Baker Hedg- 
peth, Rufus Hedgpeth and Bob Hedgpeth left us 
and went on South to the army. 

Still passing ourselves off as Union soldiers, we 
rode to the banks of the Mississippi River opposite 
Memphis, where we tried to make arrangements to 
cross the river. Being unable to get across the river 
at Memphis, we went twenty-five miles up the river 



Three Years With Quantrell ijj 

to a little place called Shawnee Village, on Devil's 
Bend. We dismounted and leaving our horses in the 
brush, drew up in line on the river bank. We had not 
waited long before we saw a Federal transport com- 
ing up the river. Quantrell hailed it and, telling the 
Captain that we were a scouting party from Mem- 
phis, which had been cut off by the rebels, asked him 
to cross us. The captain told him he had strict orders 
not to land at that bank i-ny more, that General Joe 
Shelby had clipped in there and captured two of 
their transports and sunk them. 

The next day, we found a man by the name of 
Murray Boswell, who had formerly lived in Lafay- 
ette county, Missouri, who had an old yawl hid in 
the swamps. We got it out and repaired it with old 
lumber and nails that we could get from the houses 
and fences. We worked at this until New Year's 
Day, 1865, and all we had for our New Year's dinner 
was bread, made from wheat that we ground in 
handmills ourselves, which we cooked, bran and all, 
as we had no sifters. 

Having fixed the yawl, at dusk Allen Palmer and 
I made the first trip, he leading two horses and I 
leading four. While we were crossing, a Federal 
transport came in sight. We held the yawl in some 
willows until it had rounded the bend. It took us all 
night to cross the command, there being forty-seven 
of us in all and we were told that at the point where 
we crossed the river was seven miles wide. After 
staying on the bank until we had gotten our horses 
dry and warm, we went on East for about a mile and. 
coming to a fine Southern plantation, with a beauti- 



IS4 Three Years With Quantrell 

ful blue grass pasture in front, we asked permission 
of its owner to camp there. He treated us in a very 
friendly manner and sent us food from his home. 
About nine o'clock the next morning, a man in his 
shirt sleeves, but with blue pants and a heavy re- 
volver on and asked for our commander. When he 
met Colonel Quantrell he immediately became very 
confidential and told him that the owner of that 
plantation was an outrageous rebel, doing all in his 
power for the South and that he hoped that we 
would kill him before we left. Quantrell told him all 
right to stay there with his men awhile and he would 
go up to the house and interview this old rebel. 
Leaving our visitor to be entertained by us he 
mounted his horse and went up to the house. He was. 
invited in. by the proprietor and, after being seated, 
told him that he was Colonel Quantrell and was tak- 
ing his command through to Virginia and also told 
him what our visitor had said about him. The pro- 
prietor then told Quantrell that our visitor, while a 
native of that country, was a Federal spy and was 
constantly watching and getting the Southern citi- 
zens into trouble and if any of the Southern soldiers 
returned, this man would promptly report it to the 
authorities at Memphis, and they would be arrested 
or killed. Quantrell bid our host goodbye, thanking 
him for his hospitality toward us, and returned to 
the camp, ordered us to saddle up and mount. He 
then turned to our visitor, ordered him to give up his 
revolver and took him with us. The next report that 
this traitor made was to Him who receives final re- 
ports from us all. .. « 



Three Years With Quantrell 13$ 

We went on towards the Kentucky line. In a few 
days, we were joined by a Federal soldier, who lived 
in that country, who made himself exceedingly 
familiar, ridin^^ with Colonel Quantrell nearly all 
day and pointing out to him the homes of rebels, tell- 
ing him which ones ono-ht to be killed and which 
houses ought to be burned. Just about dusk, he 
pointed to a certain house, saying, "That rebel that 
lives there ought not to be permitted to live another 
day. He is rich and the worst rebel in this country 
and has done more to aid the damned rebels than 
any man in the country." Quantrell turned to John 
Barker and told him to take this man with him and 
go up there and attend to that rebel. John left with 
our informant and in an hour returned alone, and 
the rebel who lived on the hill was not molested; the 
man who talked about him never talked about his 
neighbors any more. 

CHAPTER XV, 

Just before we reached the Kentucky line we 
learned that at a little town in Tennessee, there was 
a command of Confederates under Colonel Robert 
Fristoe, who was my uncle. Uncle Robert had lost 
his right leg at the battle of Franklin, Tennessee, but 
was still in the Confederate army. He had received 
word that there was a company of Missourians com- 
ing and, just before we reached the town, a lady rode 
up on horseback and asked Colonel Quantrell if we 
were Missourians and if there were any Fristoes 
with him, saying that she was the wife of Colonel 



ijO Three Years With Quantrell 

Fristoe. He told her that there were no Fristoes with 
him, but there were three of her husband's nephews, 
Tom Harris, George Wigginton and John McCorkle. 
He sent back for us and we came forward and were 
introduced to her, none of us ever having seen her 
before. She asked permission for us to go to town 
with her and we did so, reaching the town some time 
before the command and were heartily greeted by 
our uncle, who wanted us to stay with him, but we 
refused to leave the other boys and, after staying 
with Uncle about two hotirs, we crossed into Ken- 
tucky at the little town of Canton. At this town 
Quantrell rode into a blacksmith shop to have a shoe 
tightened on his horse and when he attempted to 
raise the horse's hind foot, it jerked his foot away 
from the smith and in some unaccountable way, 
severed the tendon just below the hock joint, making 
him entirely useless. Quantrell was terribly worried, 
said he had lost his luck and now that his horse had 
been -^"i-tnled. v»^e could take care of ourselves and 
he would stay there. I then suggested to George 
Wigginton and Tom Harris that we go on and catch 
up with Uncle Bob and join his company, and just 
as we mounted to start, Quantrell called to us, say- 
ing he had another horse and would go on and stay 
with us and we would go through to Virginia. 

The day after we left Canton, we met a command 
of about 800 Federals and stopped and talked and 
joked with them. We then went to Greenville in 
Muhlenburg County. We found another command of 
Federals there. We stopped there, put our horses in 
the livery stable and invited the Federal commander 



Three Years With Quantrell jj; 

to go with us to the hotel for dinner, paying the 
hotel and livery bill with government scrip signed, 
''Colonel Clark of Colorado!" 

When we left this town several of the Federals ac- 
companied us part of the way. Among our escort was 
a man who was organizing a negro company, styling 
himself "Captain," and during our ride, continued 
to boast about what he and his negro company would 
do to the Southern people. After escorting us a short 
way, our companions dropped back, except the cap- 
tain, who went with us a few miles farther, when 
we left him. 

On the next afternoon, we discovered a trail of 
Federal soldiers and followed them until sundown^ 
where we found them in a house. They had seen us 
coming and all escaped except six, who remained in 
the house and opened fire on us. Jim Little and I dis- 
mounted and slipping up towards the house, were in 
a corner of the fence, trying to get a shot at them, 
when one of them shot Jim through the thigh shat- 
tering the bone. As he fell to the ground he said, 
"John, I am shot; my leg is shattered." Four of us 
boys placed him in a blanket and carried him across 
the hill, the Federals shooting at us all the time, and 
one of the bullets tore the heel off my boot. I was 
mad and desperate and reaching the yard gate, 
started towards the house, when Quantrell yelled to 
me, "John, you damned fool, come back from there." 
He then ordered the house to be set afire, when the 
Federals yelled, "We will surrender if you will treat 
us ?^ rn-i'joners." They then surrendered and were 
paroled. We brought Jim Little back and left 



1^8 Three Years With Quantrell 

him in the house, the Federals promising to take 
good care of him. We all went in and told Jim good- 
bye and left him and learned afterward that he died 
from his wound. 

We then rode all night long and the next morn- 
ing, after sun up, we stopped at a house for break- 
fast, where there was an old gentleman, his wife, 
two daughters and two young men, whom we after- 
wards learned were Confederate soldiers. While we 
were eating breakfast, the young ladies continued to 
ply questions to us, trying to discover who we really 
were, seeming to know that although we were wear- 
ing Federal uniforms we were Confederates.. After 
breakfast, when we had mounted, the young ladies 
came out to the fence, and, as we told them good-bye 
one of them remarked, "Gentlemen, from your man- 
ners, we take you to be Southern men, and while I 
do not know who you are, if you are Southern sol- 
diers. I v/ish you all the happiness and success that 
could possibly come to anyone, but if you are Fed- 
erals, my heartfelt wish is that you all will be in hell 
before night." Our boys could stand it no longer, and 
immediately began to cheer. Quantrell, in a very 
stern mannner, commanded "Silence in ranks; for- 
ward, gallop,'' but taking off his hat, bade the ladies 
goodbye. 

The next day we met two gentlemen, and Will 
Bassham, engaging in conversation with them found 
that one of them was of the same name and related 
to him and that they were both Southern men. Will 
left us and accompanied his relative home and never 




JOHN McCORKLE AND T. B. HARRIS 
Taken at Lexington, Missouri, fall. 1S64. 



Three Years With Quantrell ijg 

Joined us again, and we afterwards heard that he 
had been killed in that county. 

On the next day, at the edge of a little village, 
where there were some Federals stationed, we met 
five government wagons and while we were talking 
to the drivers of the wagons, we were fired on by the 
soldiers from the town, which we returned and rode 
on, leaving the town to our left, but the Federals did 
not follow us. About twelve o'clock the next day, 
having stopped to feed our horses at a horse shed 
where there were thirty or forty head of horses, some 
of the boys decided to trade horses, leaving their 
own horses and taking some out of the shed. Before 
we got to the town of Houstonville, the owner of the 
horses caught up with us and remonstrated with us, 
demanding the return of the horses. Quantrell told 
him that the boys needed the horses worse than he 
did and that he had better return to his farm and say 
nothing about it. 

In Houstonville, the boys found three or four fine 
horses in a livery stable that belonged to a Federal 
lieutenant and, as we started to leave the town, Al- 
len Palmer mounted a very fine mare that belonged 
to this lieutenant. The lieutenant rushed up, caught 
the mare by the bridle, remarking that if she went 
out of that stable she would go over his dead body, 
to which Allen replied, "That is a damned easy job," 
and shot him, and we rode on out of town. We went 
from there to Danville. 

The news that Allen had shot the lieutenant had 
reached Danville before we did and, as we entered 
the town, a company of Federals came out to meet 



140 Three Years With Quantrell 

us, but after some talk with Colonel Quantrell, they 
returned to the town and we followed them. When 
we had reached the courthouse square, Quantrell 
drew up in line and gave the order to dismount, 
which we understood to mean, Quantrell having 
previously told us, to dash forward and compel 
every soldier and man in the town to fall in line. We 
immediately made a rush, telling them all to fall in 
and face us. Quantrell was sitting on his horse in 
front of a store, when the lieutenant rushed out with 
a rifle in his hand and, leveling it at Quantrell, said, 
"I want to see your papers." The Colonel replied, 
'My orderly has my commission and papers." The 
colonel then ordered John Barker to advance with 
them. The lieutenant turned to receive the papers 
from John, when the colonel suddenly drew his re- 
volver and, leveling it on the lieutenant, said, "Here 
are my papers- now drop that gun," when the lieu- 
tenant's mother rushed up to the colonel and said, 
"He is my boy; for my sake do not kill him." Quan- 
trell replied, "Well, madam, for your sake I will not. 
Take him and make him behave himself, but if he 
bothers me any more, I may kill him." Turning in 
his saddle, he told the soldiers and the men to all go 
home and let him alone, that he intended to hurt no 
one. We then put spurs to our horses, and turning to 
the southwest, left Harrodsburg to our right. Night 
was then coming on and we divided into squads to 
get our suppers. John Barker and eleven men stop- 
ped at one house; I, in command of seven men, 
stopped at another house and Quantrell and the re- 
mainder went to the next house. While we were eat- 



Thiee Years With Quantrell 141 

ing our supper, I heard firing at the house where 
Barker had stopped. Chad Renick, who was with 
me, rushed out and jumping on his horse, started 
toward the house and I followed him. Just as he 
reached the top of the hill, I heard Chad exclaim, 
"Quit firing down there," and then I met his horse 
coming back without a rider. Catching his horse by 
the bridle, I advanced a few yards farther and turned 
and rode back, ordering my boys to mount, intend- 
ing to go on where Quantrell was. 

When we reached the house, we found Quantrell 
had left, having discovered a company of Federals- 
coming across a field. A lady ran out of the house 
and asking us if we were Confederates, went back 
into the house and brought us out some fried chickea 
and biscuit, telling the direction Quantrell had tak- 
en. 

We afterwards learned that while John Barker 
and his men were at supper the Federals had sur- 
rounded the house and, as the boys started out, fired 
on them, killing John Barker, Henry Noland, and 
Foss Key and had killed Chad Renick as he came 
over the hill before me and that they had captured 
Dick Glasscock, Jim Younger, Bill Gaugh, Vess Ak- 
er, Jack Graham, Dick Burns, George Robinson, 
Tom Evans and Andy McGuire. These last nine 
named were taken to Lexington and placed in jails 
and on three different occasions were taken out into 
the jail yard to be hung, but each time the boys 
would come out of the jail cheering for JefT Davis 
and daring them to hang them, telling them their 
deaths would be avenged. 



142 Three Years With Quantrell 

In April, eight of them were taken to Louisville 
and placed in prison, where afterwards, with the 
assistance of some of the citizens, they escaped. Tom 
Evans was kept in jail at Lexington, the Federals 
thinking he had killed the Lieutenant at Houston- 
ville, but after the war, he was released. 

Af'p-- ^he ^nr^- had given us the fired chicken, 
'we found Colonel Quantrell with his squad drawn 
•up in line of battle. I asked him what to do about the 
other boys. He said he did not know what to do, that 
he was afraid none of us could get back there with- 
out being killed, but if I felt like risking it, to go 
^head. I told him that if any of the other boys would 
:go with me. I would try it. Payne Jones and Allen 
Palmer rode out of line and said they would go with 
me. I then changed horses, mounting Chad Renick's 
horse. We started through the fields, letting down 
the fences and leaving them down so that we could 
retreat. When we had reached the cross road, I told 
ihe boys that I would stay there and keep a look-out 
and for them to go towards the house. They had 
scarcely gotten a hundred yards from me when I dis- 
covered a c^^^-^-^nv of Federals coming between us 
and Colonel Quantrell. I called to the boys to stop 
but they could not hear me. I put spurs to my horse 
and caught up with them. We immediately turned 
and, riding at a gallop, came in front of the company 
of Federals. I asked who they were and they replied 
Bridgewater's men and asked who we were. I repli- 
ed, "Clark's men'* and was answered with a volley. 
We returned the fire and dashed down the hill and 



Three Years With Quantrell i^j 

across a branch, they following us, shooting and yell- 
ing. 

At this time, my horse begun to act as if he had 
never been under fire before and was trying his best 
to throw me and when we had reached one of the 
gaps in the fence, he refused to go through it, but 
kept on down through the woods. I could not stop 
him nor turn him. Just then Payne Jones yelled to 
me, "Hell fire, John, what are you doing? Look in 
front of you," and when I raised my head, I saw a 
company of Federals not sixty yards away, formed 
in line. I pulled all the strength I had on one bridle 
rein and, turning his head toward a fence, buried my 
spurs in his side. He did not jump, but went through 
the fence, scattering the rails in all directions. Just 
then the Federals opened fire and killed Jones' horse. 
Jones tried to get behind me, but my horse was act- 
ing so badly he could not. I opened fire then, while 
he got behind Palmer. Riding up by the side of Pal- 
mer's horse, I told Jones to get on behind me, as I 
had the stronger horse and without stopping our 
horses, he swung from Palmer's horse to mine. We 
then, in a few minutes, reached Quantrell and the 
Federals quit following us. 

After riding seven or eight miles, we came to a 
large corn-pen at the corner of a field and pasture, 
where we stayed all night. The next morning, we 
stopped at a farmer's house and he told us that he 
knew of no Federals nearer than Harrodsburg, but 
that over in Nelson County, he said that there was a 
noted character by the name of Sue Munday. who 
was q-uerrilla. After eating breakfast here, we started 



144 Three Years With Quantrell 

for Nelson County, riding all day until three or four 
o'clock in the afternoon, and, as we were entering a 
lane, which was fenced on either side with a famous 
Kentucky post and rail fence, we discovered a com- 
pany of Federals about a quarter of a mile distant, 
coming in our direction. Quantrell ordered me to go 
ahead and tear the fence down, but I could do noth- 
ing with it. He then told me to go ahead until I found 
a gate or a pair of bars. In the meantime, the Feder- 
als had got out into the road in our rear. Just as I 
reached the town of Mayfield, I found a gate leading 
into a pasture. Quantrell and the men riding up, he 
said, "Rush, boys, those fellows are coming like the 
devil." He and the command rushed through and I 
remained to shut the gate, the Federals firing three 
or four shots at me. We went over a hill and formed 
in line of battle, the Federals following us and were 
right on us before they discovered us. We charged 
them and they wheeled and went back through the 
gate and did not attempt to follow us any further, 
as they passed a house they asked an old negro who 
we were, and he told them, that we were strangers 
to him, "but my advice, marster, would be, not to 
follow them men any further, because, befo' God, 
the}^ had more pistols on them than any men he had 
ever seen befo' ." 

When we had proceeded a short distance in the 
pasture I saw a man riding down the creek and 
Quantrell told me to go see what he wanted. I rode 
up behind him and when I spoke to him he turned 
and saw the command and became very much excit- 
ed. I told him not to be excited, that we were all 



Three Years With Quantrell 14$ 

Southern men and were from Missouri. He then told 
me that in the town of Mayfield, there were two 
Southern families, one by the name of Saunders and 
a widow, by the name of Cooper. I knew both of 
these families, as they had formerly lived in Jackson 
County, Missouri, and had been forced to leave there 
under Order No. 11. He then told me his name was 
Russell, and taking him back to the command, I in- 
troduced him to Colonel Quantrell and he asked us 
to go over to his house and stay all night with him. 
During all this time Mr. Russell seemed to doubt 
who we were, and Quantrell suggested that he take 
two or three of the boys, accompanied by Mr. Rus- 
sell and go over into town and see these Missouri 
families. After the visit to the town, Mr. Russell was 
thoroughly satisfied that we were Southerners. 

We stayed around in Nelson County some time, 
sleeping in the woods at night and enjoying Ken- 
tucky hospitality. Near where we were, there was a 
large still-house, owned by an old gentleman by the 
name of Jim Dawns. We called on him one morning 
and he gave us a genuine Kentucky welcome, bring- 
ing out a water-bucket of his best but none of us be- 
came intoxicated and. at his earnest solicitation, we 
spent the day with him . 

Late that afternoon, John Hunter, a resident of 
Spencer County, invited George Wigginton, John 
Barnhill, Will Parker and me to go across Salt River 
into Spencer County and get acquainted with some 
of the Southern people over there. There we became 
acquainted with two families by the name of Wig- 
ginton. who were related to George and met Mr. 



J46 Three Years With Quantrell 

Aaron Thurman, who had two beautiful daughters^ 
Miss Jennie and Miss Dollie and I must confess that 
I was very much impressed with Miss Jennie and 
afterwards made frequent visits to call on her. 

One day George Wigginton, Will Parker, Joha 
Hunter and I were in the woods north of Mr. Thur- 
man's house when a body of Federal soldiers came 
from Taylorsville looking for us. Miss Jennie saw 
them coming and going over to a neighbor's house, 
whose name was John Stilwell, she and Mrs. Stilwell 
came to the woods and told us they were coming. We 
mounted our horses and riding to the edge of the 
woods, amused ourselves watching the Federals cir- 
cling around the woods looking for us. They circled 
the woods three times, but never entered it and, final- 
ly, giving up the hunt, they returned to Taylorville 
and we went up to one of the Wigginton's for sup- 
per. 

About this time there was in this country a cer- 
tain man styling himself Major Metz, who claimed 
to be a Southern soldier, but who was in reality, a 
deserter from the Union Army and for whose arrest 
the Federal authorities at Louisville had offered a 
reward of $500. 

Metz had married a woman by the name of Wal- 
ker, who bore a very unsavory reputation and was 
living with her father near Mr. Thurman's. There 
had been a number of citizens and also a number of 
country stores in this neighborhoocl recently robbedf 
When we reached Wigginton's place that evening, 
we were told that the night before two men had gone 
to the home of a very old man by the name of Dun- 



Three Years With Quantrell 14J 

can, and finding no one at home but the old man and 
his wife, had demanded of Duncan his money and 
upon his telling them that he had no money there, 
having sent all his money to Louisville, they began 
to abuse him, placing his finger-nails under the ram- 
rods of their pistols and mashing them off. They left 
him thus mutilated, taking \N\ih. them $30 in money 
that he had. When they started to leave Duncan, 
they told him that they were Missourians and if he 
ever told who they were they would return and kill 
both him and his wife. When Mr. Wigginton told 
me this, I told him we would investigate it, that we 
neither robbed nor mistreated citizens and asked 
him to go over to Duncan's house and try to find out 
who they were, but Mr. Duncan refused to disclose 
their identity. 

I then went down to see Mr. Duncan and told 
him that we were Missourians and that we never 
mistreated anyone, and that our commander, Col- 
onel Quantrell, would not countenance such acts, 
and that we did not propose to have the blame laid 
on us and I wanted him to tell me who they were. 
He told me he knew who they were, but was afraid 
i to tell, that they would come and kill him. I told him 
that if he would tell me who they were, I would as- 
sure him that they would never bother him again, 
and he finally told me that it was Major Metz and 
another man. 

I at once went back into Nelson County and 
told Quantrell. He said. "Well, why didn't you go 
get him? Go back and catch th'em an'd make short 
work of them. We 'do not roH people anci I swear no 



J48 Three Years With Quantiell 

man can accuse us of such hellish acts as this and 
live." I immediately returned and for several days 
tried to catch Major Metz, but he escaped me, and 
one day a citizen of that county came to me and told 
me that he would capture Metz and his companion 
for $io. I told him I would give them $io apiece to 
bring them to me. The next morning he returned 
brineinc' Major Metz with him. I gave him the $io 
and took the Major in charge. After taking the lat- 
ter's pistol away from him, he inquired what I want- 
ed with him and I told him, "We want you for rob- 
bing old man Duncan and pinching his fingers off 
and treating him so brutally, then trying to lay your 
devilish conduct on us Missourians, and I am going 
to kill you for doing it." He commenced to beg and 
ask me for mercy. I told him that he had had no mer- 
cy on defenseless old men and women and that any 
brute who would treat an old man like he had treated 
old man Duncan had no right to live. He then asked 
me to take him near his home before I killed him 
and, as we reached his father-in-law's gate, old man 
AValker came running out of the house, calling to us^ 
"Take that damned thief away from here and kill 
him. I never want him in this yard again. He has done 
nothing but rob and steal ever since he has been in 
this county, pretending he was a Southern man, 
when he is nothing but a damned thieving Yankee, 
take him away and kill him.'' We led the Major into 
the woods and he was soon deprived of all desire to 
steal and rob and had abused and mistreated his last 
man. Old man Walker called us back to the house, 
saying, "I want you men to go into the room that 




COLONEL WILLIAM QUANTKELL. 



Three Years With Quantrell i4g 

Metz has used to hide his plunder in. He has been 
doing nothing but robbing people in this country for 
the last year and I was too old and feeble to prevent 
it and he threatened to kill me if I told." We went 
into the room and found a large box filled with dry- 
goods, boots and shoes and all kinds of articles scat- 
tered around the room. 

We returned and I reported to Colonel Quan- 
trell what we had done with Metz and, after staying 
with him a few days, John Barnhill and I returned 
to Mr. Thurman's in Spencer County. There I met a 
Captain Stone, who was recruiting for the Confed- 
erates. When Captain Stone had secured a number 
of recruits, they would be turned over to a Colonel 
Jesse, who would take them back to Virginia. 

A few days after we had returned, Miss Jennie 
Thurman prepared a fine dinner for us and Captain 
Stone was invited to join us. After dinner, we went 
back into Nelson County and Colonel Quantrell led 
us on a little trip up between Louisville and Taylors- 
ville, and just before reaching Taylorsville, we saw a 
negro regiment marching in the direction of that 
town. We rode into the woods and would ride up to 
the edge of the timber, fire into them, and dash back 
into the woods. We kept this up until they had reach- 
ed the town of Taylorsville. There we let them alone 
and started toward Salt River. Just before we had 
reached Salt River, a man met us and handed Colo- 
nel Quantrell a paper, telling him to read it to us. It 
was an account of the assassination of Abraham 
Lincoln. Before the Colonel had finished reading it, 
we all began to cheer and, breaking ranks, we all 



ISO Three Years With Quantrell 

started at a gallop and never stopped until we had 
reached Jim Dawns' still house, where we stayed for 
a day or two. 

We then separated and remained in hiding for 
several days, when we returned to Nelson County 
and found Colonel Quantrell. We there held a con- 
ference, having just heard that General Lee had sur- 
rendered and, knowing the war was over, we decided 
to separate and make the best terms of surrender we 
could. Quantrell then told us that before we separat- 
ed, he had another act to perform, that he had just 
been told that a man, claiming to be a Missourian 
and one of our men, had robbed an old citizen by the 
name of Jones, and that the description given of the 
robber fitted one of our men, telling me the name 
of the man. He said he was going to take the man 
described to old man Jones and if the old man identi- 
lied him he would have him killed, that he never had 
permitted, nor never would permit any of his men to 
commit robbery. I then told Quantrell that as the 
man he suspicioned had been with me in a number 
of close places and considered him a brave soldier, 
that I would not go with him on such a mission. He 
told me all right and to meet him in a day or two 
at Mrs. Cooper's and, turning, he rode away. This 
was the last time I ever saw Quantrell. Tom Harris, 
George Wigginton and John Barnhill stayed with 
me and we went back to Thurman's house. After 
Colonel Quantrell left us, he started to go to Jones' 
house and when he and his men reached the pike 
leading from Taylorsville to Bloomfield, a very 
haevy rain came up and they turned off of the pike 



Three Years With Quantrell i^r 

and went into Dr. Wakefield's barn. Being very 
tried, he laid down on a pile of hay to rest. The boys 
began to romp and throw cobs at each other and four 
or five of them were pelting John Ross with cobs 
and he ran out of the barn door into the lot, when he 
saw a compan yof Federals coming through the lot 
gate. This company was under the command of Cap- 
tain Mead. John ran back to the door and yelled, 
'Great God, boys, the Federals are right on us." 
Quantrell sprang up and said, "Mount, about face 
and charge." He ran to his horse and as he started 
to mount him, his stirrup leather broke, throwing 
him across his saddle and, before he could regain his 
position, his horse dashed out of the door, following 
the other horses, and just as his horse entered the lot 
with him, a Federal shot him in the back, the bullet 
ranging up and forward. His horse ran with him into 
a pasture. Quantrell still trying to regain his seat 
and, as the horse made a turn, he fell to the ground 
on his back and a Federal rode by him, shooting at 
him when he exclaimed, "It is useless to shoot me 
any more; I am now a dying man." The Federals 
carried him into Dr. Wakefield's house, where his 
wounds were dressed and the Federals left him there 
that night. After the Federals left him, Frank James, 
John Ross, Bill Hulse and Payne Jones went to see 
him and wanted to take him away and hide him in 
the woods, but he declined to go, saying, "Boys, it is 
impossible for me to get well, the war is over and I 
am in reality a dying man, so let me alone. Good- 
bye," and the boys turned and left him. In a few 
days, the Federals came with an ambulance and 



JS2 Three Years With Quantrell 

took him to Louisville, placing him in a hospital. He 
remained in the hospital at Louisville for several 
weeks, when a Catholic priest, who had been visiting 
him, telling the authorities that he was bound to die, 
prevailed upon them to let him be removed to a 
Catholic hospital, where on the seventh day of June, 
1865, the spirit of one of the truest, bravest men that 
ever lived passed from earth to appear before his 
maker and render an account for the deeds done 
here. 

There has been in late years a nimiber of sensa- 
tional articles appearing in the public press, claiming 
that Quantrell was not dead and at various times 
some one, to gain notoriety, has published a state- 
ment that Quantrell was still alive, but I know that 
he died at Louisville, Kentucky. I know that just be- 
fore his death, he gave the priest an order to Mrs. 
Cooper for the money he had left with her. These 
facts I have from a reliable authority. Miss Eliza 
Sanders, who was familiar with all of these facts, 
and who wrote them to me after the war. In 1872, 
Miss Mary Beverley, of Howard County, Missouri, 
who afterwards married Bill Greenwood, was in 
Louisville, Kentucky, hunted us his grave, which 
she found from the records kept by the sexton of the 
Catholic graveyard and had it re-sodded. 

It will be remembered that four of us did not go 
with Quantrell on his last trip, but waited for him 
near Mrs. Cooper's and having waited in vain a day 
and night, I rode out on the pike to see if I could 
hear anything of him and just as I came in sight of 
Dr. Wakefield's house, I met Mr. Russell and asked 



Three Years With Quantiell i^j 

him if he knew anything of our boys. He said, "Your 
captain was shot day before yesterday and is mor- 
tally wounded," and turning towards Dr. Wake- 
field's house, he pointed to a lot of men in front of 
the house and said, "There are the Federal soldiers 
now with an ambulance taking your colonel to Louis- 
ville. 

George Wigginton and I then went back into 
Spencer County to Mr. Thurman's and remained for 
several days, where we again met Captain Stone and 
he told us that he was going to Newcastle to surren- 
der and that we had better go and surrender as new 
recruits with him. We consulted with Mr. Thurman 
and some other friends and they decided that, as 
Quantrell's command was not recognized in Ken- 
tucky as regular Confederate soldiers, it would prob- 
ably be better for us to surrender with Captain Stone. 
We then bade our Kentucky friends good-bye and I 
must confess that it was a sad parting between Miss 
Jennie Thurman and myself. I had with me at that 
time the fine Colt's revolvers, with their scabbards 
and belt that I had taken from the trunk of the Fed- 
eral officer at Baxter Springs. I presented these to 
Miss Jennie, with my compliments, telling her that 
I might some day return and claim them, but I have 
never seen any of the Thurman family since. 

We went with Captain Stone, riding at night, 
until we came to the town of Newcastle, Kentucky, 
and about four o'clock in the morning, we stopped at 
the house of a distinguished citizen of that country, 
Mr. Joseph Prior, who was a first cousin of the illus- 
tirous jurist, Judge Prior, of the Kentucky Court of 



JS4 Three Years With Quantrell 

Appeals and was also the father of William Prior, 
who afterwards moved to Missouri and was for four 
years Clerk of the County Court of Howard County. 
Mr. Prior came to the door and invited us in and, af- 
ter telling us to remain at his house and he would 
go to Newcastle, see the Federal authorities and ar- 
range to have us paroled. He returned from Newcas- 
tle with a Federal colonel and a lieutenant colonel, 
who treated us very nicely and stayed until after 
dinner, talking with us about the war and on other 
topics, and when they were ready to leave, they took 
our arms and horses and paroled us and administer- 
ed to us the oath of allegiance to the Federal gov- 
ernment, which we have both kept ever since. 

After the Federals left us, we decided it was bet- 
ter for us to leave at once and Mr. Prior had two of 
his horses saddled and, telling one of his boys to ride 
behind us, he started us to Port Royal, giving us a 
letter of introduction to a friend of his there. When 
we reached the house of this friend of his, we handed 
him the letter and he gave us a hearty welcome, but 
told us that the Owen County militia might be on 
that side of the river and we had better go into the 
woods and stay until night, when we could return 
to his house as the militia always returned to Owen 
County at night. After dark, we returned to his 
house and retired. This was the first time I had slept 
all night in a house in three years. 

In the morning, he advised us to return to the 
brush and stay until he could make arrangements 
for a boat to take us down the river. When we saw 
a boat coming down the river, he took us to the shore 



Three Years With Quantrell i^s 

and made arrangements for our transportation and 
we went to Madison, Indiana, where we stayed all 
night and from there, we went to Indianapolis and to 
Terre Haute, then to Evansville, where we stayed 
several days and from Evansville, we went by river 
to Paducah, Kentucky, and to our uncle. Colonel 
Robert Fristoe. There I went to work on the farm of 
a Mr. Cobb and George Wigginton went to work for 
uncle Robert Fristoe. 

After we had been there for about a month, we 
received a letter from my cousin, Mollie Wigginton, 
in which she told us that they were still holding Tom 
Evans at Lexington, Kentucky, charging him with 
having shot and killed the lieutenant at Houston- 
ville, and as we both knew that Tom did not shoot 
the lieutenant, but that Allen Palmer was the one 
that killed him, for us to go before some Notary 
Public and make an affidavit to these facts and send 
them to Lexington and she also stated in the letter 
that they all wanted us to come home. George and 
I went to Mayfield, Kentucky, and made the affida- 
vit as suggested and forwarded it to Lexington. 

At this time, we were both homesick and long- 
mg for old Missouri and, in a few days, we started 
home. Going to Paducah, Kentucky, we took a steam 
boat on the Ohio River and went to Cairo, taking 
another boat and going from there to St. Louis. 
From St. Louis we went to Jefferson City on the 
Missouri Pacific Railroad, and after staying there a 
day or two, we went by boat to Glasgow, in Howard 
County. I then went to the home of my uncle, John 
Fristoe, who lived north of Glasgow, he had been a 



JS6 Three Years With Quantrell 

refugee from Jackson County. I stayed in this vicin- 
ity for several years, working on farm and, in No- 
vember, 1867, I was married and have lived in How- 
ard County, Missouri ever since. 

It will be remembered that George Wigginton 
and I were not present at the fight at the barn when 
Colonel Quantrell was wounded, he and I, with our 
two companions later surrendering at Winchester, 
Kentucky, and the first account I had of the surren- 
der of the remainder of the command was given me 
after the war by Frank James. He told me that, after 
Quantrell was removed to Louisville, they appoint- 
ed another commander, and, in a few days, he went 
into Bardstown, Kentucky, and saw Captain Mead, 
who was a true soldier and a brave man, and agreed 
on terms of surrender. They then reported to Cap- 
tain Mead, who met them near Bardstown, with a 
few of his men, and he told them to keep their arms 
and horses; and remain with him until he could hear 
from General Palmer, who was in command at 
Louisville. 

While waiting to hear from General Palmer, it 
was reported to Captain Mead that two men had out- 
raged a woman living in the country. Captain Mead 
tried for several days to apprehend them, but failed. 
Frank James then told him that he could take six 
of his men and capture these two fiends. Mead told 
liim to go ahead and he left with five other men and, 
in a few days, captured them and, taking them to the 
woman, who promtply identified them, and, acting 
tmder the instructions of Captain Mead, James had 
them shot. Placing the bodies in a wagon he took 



Three Years With Quantrell is7 

them back to Captain Mead, telling him what he had 
done. Captain Mead congratulated him and thanked 
him for his actions in this matter and assured him 
that he would notify General Palmer fully in regard 
to it, and, in a few days, General Palmer issued an 
order for the boys to be paroled and that they be per- 
mitted to keep their arms and horses and, after tak- 
ing the oath of allegiance to the Federal govern- 
ment, allowed them to go in peace to their homes. 

This is a true story of my life during the war. 
Nearly all the men who fought and suffered with me 
.are dead. There are only a few of us left and ere long 
the last Missouri guerilla will be only a memory. I 
realize that but a few years at least remain for me. 
My record since the war is known to my neighbors 
and friends and, while, in my declining years, these 
scenes come up to me as horrible dreams, I feel 
thankful that my life has been spared this long and 
hope that my enemies will forgive me for any worng 
act of mine, as I know my Maker has. This book has 
been written at my dictation by my young friend 
and written in the spirit expressed in the language 
of Abraham Lincoln, "with malice toward none and 
with charity to all." 



$5^ 




?>^ o * , „ o ' ^0 



^0' 



- o « - . \J ■ ,J> 






<^ 



4 6 
,0 



.0 



.^^ 












^O. 









' ^"^ ^ "'' n"^ ,. -^ 


















OCT 69 



!• 'A'vir»\«/i;jj 



N. MANCHESTER. 
INDIANA 






^o. 



•^.^ -.^' 






